India’s imports of iron ore hit a five-year high of 5.31 million tonnes (mnt) in financial year 2023-24 (FY’24) compared to around 2.3 mnt in FY’23 – a huge increase of about 131% y-o-y, as per latest data available with BigMint. Australia was the largest exporter of iron ore to India at 3.76 mnt in FY’24. Australian miners pushed up their iron ore supplies towards end-March, 2024 before the end of their cyclone season. Brazil occupied the second position among the top exporters with 673,155 t, followed by South Africa at 172,810 t. Import volumes from Brazil and South Africa rose y-o-y by 16% and a sharp 186%, respectively.
