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India's iron ore producers are seeking duties to limit iron ore exports

Indian sponge iron producers have asked the government to impose a duty on the export of low-grade ore in order to prevent a shortage of the primary raw material used by the second largest crude steel producer in the world.

In an interview with , Rahul Mittal (chairman of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association) said: "We've urged the Government to intervene because there is a lack of iron ore. Please levy the export duty."

India is the largest sponge iron producer in the world, with 336 sponge-iron plants located throughout the country. India produces about 50 million metric tonnes of sponge iron. This is used primarily by secondary steel producers.

India's exports of iron ore reached 32.2 million tons in the first nine-months of the current fiscal, which began April 2023. This is worth $2.7 billion. The previous year they were only 9.5 millions metric tons.

Over 90% of India's total iron ore exports go to China.

Sponge iron producers have been rattled by the surge in India's exports of iron ore. They are complaining about rising prices and a lack of supplies.

Mittal stated that a dramatic increase in iron ore imports has caused shortages to worsen in recent months.

He said that sponge iron producers are concerned about the supply of iron ore since the government, in November 2022, scrapped the higher export tax for low-grade lumps, pellets and fines. This reversed the decision made in May 2022.

The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, an industry group of mining companies has requested that the government refrain from imposing curbs on exports of iron ore. FIMI has argued India only exports low-grade ore that is not widely used in the country.

Mittal, in response to FIMI's claim, said that India's producers of sponge iron use all grades ore.

India is expected produce 51 million metric tonnes of sponge iron during the fiscal year ending April 2024.

Mittal stated that the sponge iron production is expected to increase by 15% in 2024/25. He also highlighted India's increasing demand for iron ore.

The majority of India's sponge-iron output is consumed in the country. (Reporting and editing by Neha Arora, Mayank Bhardwaj, Shounak Dasgupta).

(source: Reuters)