Iron Ore Exports May Fall Over 20pc To 75MT In FY'12: FIMI.

Iron ore exports may fall by over 20 per cent to around 75 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal as a result of hike in duty on overseas shipments, miners body Federation of Indian Mineral Industries said.

"In 2010-11, exports of iron ore from India was around 95 MT. This is likely to come down to around 75 MT in the current fiscal," FIMI President Siddharth Rungta said.

Rungta attributes the likely drop in exports to duty hike announced in the Budget and loss in production as a fall out of that.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had raised export duty on fines four-fold to 20 per cent in the Budget for 2011-12. India had shipped 117 MT iron ore in 2009-10 and around 80 per cent of that was in the form of fines. For lumps, the duty was upped to 20 per cent from 15 per cent earlier.

"Production will also be less this year since many of our members are running only two shifts compared to three shifts a day earlier," Rungta said.

In the first three months of the current fiscal, exports of iron ore were around 20 MT. This was around the same in the corresponding period last year, he said.

India mostly exports iron ore to China and accounts for 22 per cent of the neighbouring country's total imports. On account of the duty hike, the competitive advantage is also getting eroded each day, he said.

Rungta, however, said the ban on iron ore exports from Karnataka had not have much impact on the cumulative shipments in the past quarter.

"This time around last year, there was a restriction on exports from Orissa while exports from Karnataka were on. This time, it is just the reverse," he said.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com