In the first five months of the current Indian fiscal year (April-August), the iron ore exports of India declined by 24.4 percent year on year to 28.02 million mt, based on the data issued by the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI). In particular, in the given period iron ore export shipments from government-controlled ports totaled 27.47 million mt, decreasing by 13.6 percent as compared to the same period of 2010.
In the five months in question, iron ore export activity from India's southern and western ports (mainly accounted for by exports from the state of Karnataka) was very slow. Shipments of iron ore from Paradip port in Orissa State were down 4.2 percent year on year to 4.04 million mt. However, iron ore exports from Visakhapatnam port in eastern India rose by 12.6 percent year on year to 3.49 million mt.