India’s Ministry of Finance has announced that it has removed the five percent export duty on iron ore pellets. The removal of the tax is expected to help improve the capacity utilization of domestic pellet plants.
The five percent export tax on iron ore pellets was imposed in January 2014 in response to demand from the domestic steel industry, including a request from the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) which was seeking a 30 percent export tax on iron ore pellets, fines and lumps to eliminate the shortage of raw materials for domestic steel mills.