Backing demands from miners, India’s Ministry of Mines has recommended the scrapping of export duty on iron ore fines and lumps with Fe content of up to 62 percent in the forthcoming national budget scheduled to be placed before India's parliament in February, senior government officials said on Thursday, January 11.
The officials said that at present the export duty on iron ore lumps and fines with Fe content up to 58 percent is nil and the same will be extended in the case of lumps and fines with Fe content up to 62 percent, while the 30 percent export tax will be limited only to lumps and fines with Fe content 62 percent and higher.
Miners through their organizations, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries and the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association, said in their representation to the ministry that there is zero domestic demand for iron ore fines and lumps with Fe content less than 62 percent and hence the only option is to export the grade of raw material and the scrapping of the export duty will enable miners to ship higher volumes of the lower grades to overseas markets, the officials added.
It is estimated that during the 2016-17 financial year iron ore production from mines in India was around 191 million mt against a domestic demand of 107 million mt, while miners are still carrying a stockpile of around 149 million mt of lower grade ore.