In a proposal written to the Finance Ministry, India’s mines ministry has urged for removal of export duty on iron ore pellets. Currently, export duty of 5% is levied on pellet exports from India.
“India’s mines ministry has written to the Finance Ministry to propose scrapping a 5% export duty on iron ore pellets”, said mines secretary Balvinder Kumar.
The government could also look at abolishing duty on low-grade iron ore, he added further.
Significant export duty, high distance based charges and increased cost of production have made pellet exports from India unviable. Earlier in Sept’15, Pellet Manufacturers Association of India (PMAI) had moved the Finance Ministry to remove 5% export duty and instead, levy least 15% import duty on iron ore lumps.
Indian pellet exports fell by 32% in Q2 FY16
Iron pellet exports from India have fallen by 32% Q-o-Q in Q2 FY16. Pellet exports from India amounted to 365,700 MT in Q1 FY16 which declined to 248,100 MT in Q2 FY16.
The month of Oct’15 did not notice any pellet export shipments from India and in Nov’15 (till date) there has not been any pellet export shipments so far.
-Sourced
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