India exported 1.8 mln tonnes of iron ore in January- Shipping Reports

Exports of iron ore from Indian market stood at 18,00,000 tonnes in the month of January according to shipping sources.With restrictions imposed by Indian government on mining states like Karnataka, Goa and Odisha have led exports of iron ore to fall upto 72%.

India exported a total 1.8 million tonnes of iron ore from all ports. Vizag port handled highest cargo which stood at around 1.1 million followed by Paradip and Haldia port, where iron ore handled was at around 1,80,000 tonnes and 1,11,000 respectively.Rungta, SM Niryat and Royal Liners remained some active exporters during January 2013.

R K Sharma, secretary general of FIMI, attributed the decline to poor mining activity resulting in lower availability of the mineral coupled with the hefty export duty levied by the government in order to discourage exports.

“The export duty of 30 per cent on iron ore fines is a deterrent to the effective functioning of the Indian mining industry. During our recent interaction with the ministry of finance, we requested the government to reduce export duty on iron ore fines in Budget 2013-14 to five per cent,” said Sharma.