The Centre has moved to clear any ambiguity that could be
misused by captive mine owners to sell iron ore fines in the open market.
The move comes after the Jharkhand High Court in February
stayed the State from banning exports, but relaxed it later to allow a one-time
domestic sale of iron ore fines from the captive mines of Usha Martin and Steel
Authority of India (SAIL).
Fines, or iron ore dusts, are smaller than 10mm, are
produced when lumps are dug out from mines. Only few steelmakers are equipped
to use them to make steel, such as the pellet-based facilities of JSW Steel,
JSW ISPAT and Essar Steel. As a result, much of the fines were being exported
to China.
The Centre's recent move is seen as an attempt to reinforce
the implicit ban on sale of captive resources, simultaneously pushing owners of
captive iron ore mines to invest in adding value to the ore, they own.
Welcoming the move, the Secretary General of the Federation
of Indian Mineral Industries said, “Allowing sale of fines would be a
violation of the conditions under which the state was making a lease
recommendation. It cannot be allowed.”
According to an official in the Mines ministry, captive
owners who have access to iron ore at a production cost of 600 -800 a tonne can
afford to set up a beneficiation plant to increase its ferrous content and
pelletize fines for easy transport. Tata Steel has set up its pellet plant
close to its steel plant in Jameshedpur
Another miner who was affected by the move, said:
“Where will we get space as the Environment (and Forest ) Ministry is
reluctant to grant fresh forest land for mineral processing.”
Source: The Economic Times
Leave a Reply