Indian iron ore pelletization capacity utilization has fallen to around 35 percent of installed capacity in face of rising costs, low-cost imports from China and the drying up of export opportunities, an official from the Pellet Manufacturers’ Association of India (PMAI) said on Thursday, October 15.
The official stated that over the past year the industry’s capacity utilization came down from 50-55 percent to the current level of 35 percent of total installed capacity of 83 million mt per year.
In a communication to the Ministry of Steel and Mines, the PMAI has sought the immediate scrapping of the five percent export duty on iron ore pellets and the imposition of a 15 percent import duty to “ensure a level playing field” for domestic pellet producers, the official said.
Elaborating on the pricing disadvantage for the local industry, the PMAI official said that domestic iron ore pellets were priced at an average of INR 6,000/mt ($92/mt), while ex-China pellet prices averaged at INR 4,500/mt ($69/mt).
The PMAI has also sought a safeguard duty on pellet imports in line with the 20 percent duty imposed on imports of select steel flat products, he added.