India iron ore exports sank over 50% in April

Friday, Apr 24, 2009

April 23 MetalBiz--India iron ore exports have dropped over 50% this month and tend to continuous decline for another 4-5 months due to many reasons, state-run MMTC, one of the exporters, has said.

"The exports of iron ore have declined substantially about 50% during April compared with the same month last year," MMTC Chairman Sanjiv Batra said, adding that the trend was likely to continue for another 4-5 months due to declining prices, lower demand and effective global competition".

"The international price has slipped as the demand for iron ore has decreased 25-30%, which has resulted in the drops of the production capacity," MMTC Chairman Sanjiv Batra said here on the sidelines of the Festival of Gold on April 23.

India&aposs Total iron ore exports stood at 100mln tonnes, of which MMTC exported 7mln tonnes in fiscal year of 2008-2009 and 8.5mln tonnes during 2007-2008.

Meanwhile, the declining price had positive effect on coal imports, as there is a growing demand for the commodity in thermal power generation, Batra said.

The Total import of the country is about 50mln tonnes, of which MMTC has already purchased 5.5mln tonnes which is expected to go up to 15mln tonnes in fiscal year of 2009-2010, he added.