Indias iron ore exports, output to rise in 06/07

India’s iron ore exports are likely to rise to 100 million tonnes in the current financial year ending March from 90 million tonnes in the previous year, a top industry official said on Friday.

B. Ramesh Kumar, Chairman of the state-run National Mineral Development Corp., told a conference that production was likely to rise by 15 million tonnes in the current fiscal year from 155 million tonnes in the previous year, a top industry official said on Friday.

More than half of India’s iron ore production is exported, with a major portion of the shipments going to China, where it is sold in the spot market as it commands a premium over long-term contracts.

India’s total iron ore reserves are estimated at 22.10 billion tonnes, half of which is haematite ore.

Kumar said the country would need to boost iron ore output to 300 million tonnes annually by 2020 to match the projected steel capacity of 180 million tonnes by that year.

“The iron-ore situation would turn precarious in time to come,” Kumar said.

Indian steelmakers have been calling for a ban on iron ore exports to preserve the raw material for domestic steel firms, but the ore industry says that the local industry does not have adequate capacity to absorb the mine output.

The government is studying the matter and likely to come out with a policy statement in a month or two, senior government officials say.

Kumar said state-run NMDC’s output was likely to be 26 million tonnes in the current fiscal, out of which about 11 percent is likely to be exported.

He said NMDC had started the construction work on a new mine Bailadila 11 B in Chhattisgarh, which will initially have a capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum and would later be raised to 7 million tonnes per annum.

Kumar said the company was aiming to nearly double its iron ore production to 50 million tonnes by 2014/2015.

Source: www.ndtvprofit.com