Iron ore exports drop 24% in Jan

Indian iron ore exports continued to decline and were down by about a fourth in January 2011 at 10.6 million tonnes (mt) as compared to 14 mt in the corresponding period last year.

Total exports for the April-January 2011 were down 18 per cent to 75.1 mt (91.7 mt), said the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.

The decline is largely attributed to the ban on movement of iron ore for exports in Karnataka, the third largest producer. In the year-ended March 2010, the Indian iron ore exports stood at 117.37 mt.

The Union Budget for 2011-12 on Monday proposed to hike and unify the export duty to 20 per cent on iron ore exports. Earlier, the iron ore lumps attracted an export duty of 15 per cent, while the fines were levied a duty of 5 per cent.

India is the fourth largest producer of iron ore and the third largest exporter of the raw material used by the steel industry. Majority of the Indian iron ore is exported to China, the world's largest steel producer.