India’s iron ore import shipments stood at 1.98 million tonnes (mnt) in the financial year 2021-22 (FY’22), showing against 0.38 mnt in FY’21, according to the vessel line-up data maintained with SteelMint.
South Africa leading exporter
South Africa was the largest exporter of iron ore to India at 0.88 mnt in FY’22. Import volumes from South Africa witnessed a sharp rise of 528% y-o-y against 0.14 mnt in the previous fiscal.
Australia occupied the second position among the top exporters at 0.61 mnt, followed by Brazil at 0.33 mnt. Import volumes from Australia rose by a whopping 917% y-o-y.
Shipper-wise importers in FY’22
JSW Steel was the leading iron ore importer in FY’22 at 1.05 mnt. Other major importers were AM/NS India at 0.16 mnt and Tata International at 0.15 mnt.
Global iron ore price fall in May’21 drives up imports
India’s iron ore imports resumed after a long gap of 10 months in November 2021, as global prices crashed from end-September, 2021. A sharp correction in global iron ore prices resulted in an increase in import bookings. The benchmark Fe62% Australian fines prices, after touching heights of more than $230/t around the third week of May 2021, plummeted to $90/t CFR China levels in end-September 2021.
Consequently, falling prices found parity with Indian domestic iron ore and pellet prices. Domestic prices of iron ore hovered at around INR 6,700-7,000/t and that of pellets at INR 12,400/t in end-September, 2021.
Global iron ore prices, after witnessing a sharp fall, extended gains in subsequently on strong demand for finished steel. The benchmark Fe62% fines index increased by over $30/t in the past three months to $160.8/t CFR China.
However, with the rise in global prices and drop in Indian domestic iron ore prices, import bookings for the raw material slowed down.
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