The iron ore mining industry in the southern Indian state of Karnataka has applied to India’s Supreme Court seeking permission to export the steelmaking raw material in view of mounting stockpiles, a private sector miner in the region said on Thursday, April 18.
The miner in question said that the Supreme Court had been applied to since domestic steel mills in the region were increasing imports, while close to 5 million mt of the raw material had been stockpiled at pitheads in Karnataka as of March 31 as sales volumes through state-conducted e-auctions were falling sharply.
As per a Supreme Court order dated April 13, 2013, exports of iron ore from mines located in Karnataka were prohibited.