More domestically mined iron ore feeding Indian steel plants — which supports construction and manufacturing jobs and cuts reliance on imported raw material. State-run NMDC produced 4.07 million tonnes in August, up about 21% from a year earlier, with sales of 3.58 million tonnes. One month is noisy, and production growing faster than sales means some inventory build, which helps only if buyers follow. Iron-ore volumes are a fair read on how busy India's steel mills expect to be.