India’s domestic sponge iron producers have petitioned the government seeking the immediate imposition of a 30 percent export tax on iron ore pellets to increase domestic availability and to reduce the costs of production, according to several communications made to the government from a number of representative bodies.
“Out of the total saleable iron ore pellets available in the market, more than 60 percent is being exported out of the country at nil duty. Hardly any beneficiation is being done and more than 90 percent of high grade iron ore fines are directly being used for pellet making and exporting, and this is against the government vision of India achieving 300 million mt of steel capacity by 2030,” the West Bengal Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association said in a communication to the Indian prime ministry.
The Odisha Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association in a separate communication stated, “Pellets are being allowed to be exported freely without any export duty. To improve availability for domestic sponge iron producers, export of pellets needs to be restricted.”
“Steel is the key to infrastructure development and the government has earmarked massive investments for development of world class infrastructure. If the raw material prices of making steel come down, the cost of production and eventually the sale price of steel will also be competitive. We request you to consider our proposal for a levy of 30 percent export duty on iron ore pellets and to ban all exports above 63 percent Fe content to safeguard domestic steel producers, especially secondary steel producers having no captive iron ore mines,” the Chhattisgarh Sponge Iron Manufacturers’ Association said in its own communication to the prime ministry.