Sinosteel halts iron ore imports from India
Irked by the hike in export duties, China’s second largest iron ore importer Sinosteel Corporation has halted imports from India.
The company made the announcement a week after India imposed a levy of Rs 300 ($7) per tonne of iron ore exported from March 1.
Management of the company were unavailable for comments.
India’s move to hike duties has shocked China’s steel industry, prompting more than 100 iron ore buyers to discuss a response to the duties.
They agreed to try to reach a more reasonable scheme with the Indian government before its parliament formally approved the duties in the next two weeks, the International Financial News reported Thursday.
With annual imports of 10 million tonnes of iron ore from India, Sinosteel, the highest among all Chinese importers, was the first to act against the duties.
Indian iron ore will become much less competitive in prices, forcing Chinese buyers turn to Brazil and Australia, a report, by the China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), remarked.
China imported 74 million tonnes of iron ore from India last year, about a fifth of its total imports.
The CICC report says the policy will have a limited effect on China’s steel industry due to rising steel prices.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
