NMDC

It is the first increase since the Rs 200 cut on both grades in August. Lump now sits below July's Rs 5,450 while fines remain Rs 200 under their July level.

August production was up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. The cumulative number follows 19.16 MT over April to July, a stretch that included a best-ever July at 4.06 MT. NMDC cut iron ore prices from 8 August, so volume growth is running alongside lower realisations and the revenue line will show the net of the two, not the production number on its own.

The cut lands immediately after a best-ever July, with output up 31 percent to 4.06 million tonnes. Record volume alongside a lower price is the tension: the tonnes are there, the realisation per tonne is not, and the same 200 rupees comes off the input cost of every domestic steel maker.