On Monday, November 21, India's largest iron ore exporter Sesa Goa said that iron ore exports from India, normally the world's third biggest supplier of the steelmaking ingredient, could fall a third to 65-70 million mt in the fiscal year to March 2012.
In April-October period of the current Indian fiscal year, the iron ore exports of India have already declined by 25 percent year on year, hit by the export ban from the Karnataka region, which normally accounts for a quarter of India's iron ore exports. Meanwhile, the western Indian state of Goa's iron ore shipments in the April-October period this year decreased 6.15 percent year on year to 19.76 million mt.
Most of India's iron ore exports go to China, which has the world's largest steel industry. The country used to export about half its annual iron ore production until Karnataka introduced a ban on shipments in July 2010.