State-owned miner NMDC on Tuesday reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by lower product prices.

The iron ore miner’s quarterly profit before exceptional items and tax came in at ₹1,483 crore, down 4.8 per cent from a year ago.

Its profit including tax rose 2% for the January-March quarter due to lower tax expenses.

NMDC’s iron ore prices averaged at 4,206 rupees, lower than the average of 4,299 rupees a year earlier, according to data from JM Financial Institutional Securities.

The company had announced a price cut in January, according to commodities consultancy BigMint.

JSW Steel, which primarily procures iron ore from NMDC, said earlier this month that a further drop in iron ore prices is expected in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year.

Revenue from its iron ore vertical fell nearly 2% during the quarter.