The Indian Steel Ministry has announced its position in favor of a total ban of iron ore exports with the country's steel minister on July 12 calling for the preservation of India's non-renewable mineral resources.
According to Indian news sources, Steel Minister Atul Chaturvedi told a news agency, "It will be good to completely ban iron ore exports as these are non-renewable resources; once you exhaust them, you won't get them. How are coal, gas and petroleum products different from iron ore? Why don't we export them? You can't have double standards."
During the last fiscal year, India exported almost half of the 230 million mt iron ore it produced, mainly to China. As SteelOrbis previously reported, India has been gradually increasing its export tax on iron ore, with the tax level on lumps standing at 15 percent and the tax on fines standing at five percent. Recently, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) recommended imposing a 20 percent duty on exports of iron ore fines as against the current five percent.