Some Indian market insiders have lately expressed their expectations that India will necessarily limit its iron ore exports to China in the future given the improvement of iron ore demand in the Indian domestic market as well as the Indian government's increasing emphasis on the protection of natural resources. India is one of the most important sources of imported iron ore for China, accounting for 10 percent of China's iron ore import market.
B. Muthuraman, vice president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and deputy chairman of India's Tata Steel Group, said that it would be sensible for the Indian government to take prudent action in the supervision of iron ore exports, given the finite nature of this natural resource.
Meanwhile, Chandrajit Banerjee, general director of the Confederation of Indian Industry, has commented that India should focus further on the enhancement of the value-added aspect of its raw material exports, as opposed to suddenly halting iron ore exports to China. He also said that in the short term Chinese importers would not encounter any threat as regards iron ore imports from India, though in the long run Indian suppliers would preferentially meet the demand of domestic buyers.