The Hindu Business Line : International mining meet in Goa from Sept 28

Organised by Federation of Indian Mineral Industry (FIMI), the conference will cover issues relating to the mineral ore sector and international trade. Domestic and international mine owners, suppliers, traders, railways and ports, and policy makers from the Union Government will participate. Around 300-350 delegates will take part in the event, and Japanese and Chinese steel mills will be among the prominent participants. This assumes significance for the Goan mining industry since Indian exports to China have grown in recent years and Japanese steel mills happen to be major importers. Policy issues such as iron ore mining, infrastructure, export, domestic consumption, value addition and the quality of ore would be discussed. The conference will be held in Taj Exotica Resorts in South Goa.

Riding high on Chinese imports: Riding on the high intake of iron ore by China, Goan exporters are confident of repeating last year's export performance, i.e. 23 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore of Goan origin and around 9 mt of iron ore of non-Goan origin (procured from other States for export after blending). With its steel production soaring in the last few years, China has emerged as a prominent importer of iron ore globally. Its imports from Goa rose to 20.4 mt last year, followed by Japanese imports of around 6.5 mt. Pakistan and Romania have also emerged as significant buyers for Goa, taking over 1.3 mt each last year. The boom in the Chinese steel industry is heaven-sent for Goan exporters in the private sector, who earn around Rs 1,500 crore in annual exports. This is because their exports to Japanese steel mills (their traditional buyers) had declined steadily from around 9.8 mt in 1999-2000 to 6 mt last year. Goan exporters have also been able to get better prices by blending the low-grade Goan ore with high-grade non-Goan-origin ore to meet the Chinese demand. Sources in the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters' Association (GMOEA) said the off-season export performance matched that of last year. As for the export performance of Goan-origin ore last year, Sesa Goa continued to lead with exports of around 4.22 mt, followed by Dempos (3.8 mt), V.M. Salgaonkar Brothers (2.66 mt) and Chowgules (2.5 mt), according to GMOEA's data. Sesa Goa's exports from States such as Karnataka and Orissa have also been growing. The upswing in Chinese intake might last till 2007, said the GMOEA sources. However, the exporters feel that the prices offered by Chinese steel mills, which still remain high, may even out to be a par with Japanese prices by 2007.

For the current year, it has been pointed out that Japan increased the prices.

The intake from Japanese steel mills is also expected to be steady to reach last year's figures.

From around 15 mt in 1999-2000, Goan iron ore exports have been on a major upswing with figures of 22 mt for 2003-04 and 23 mt in 2004-05.

Interestingly, exports of high grade ore coming from Bellary (Karnataka) and other States (of non-Goan origin) have also gone up from a mere 1.2 mt in 1999-2000 to 8.44 mt in 2003-04 and 9.23 mt in 2004-05. , respectively.

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