April-July Iron Ore Exports Down 21.86% to 25.29 mn Tonnes: Trade Body.

MUMBAI: Iron ore exports from India, the world's third biggest exporter, fell 21.86 percent to 25.29 million tonnes during April-July weighed by higher costs and slow efforts to resume shipments in a key state, data from the trade body showed.

Exports of the steel-making ingredient fell 29.01 percent to 8.142 million tonnes in April, and fell 16.89 percent in May to 9.338 million tonnes, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries ( FIMI) said in a statement late on Thursday.

Exports in June fell 15.98 percent to 4.186 million tonnes, while shipments in July fell 22.56 percent to 3.624 million tonnes.

Southern Karnataka state, which accounts for about a quarter of the country's iron ore exports, banned shipments in July last year to curb illegal mining.

In April, the Supreme Court ordered the state to resume shipments but, to date, exports have yet to resume.

High export tax and rising freight rates also weighed on shipments. India, in February, had raised the export tax on iron ore fines to 20 percent from 5 percent to conserve the natural resource for local consumption.

The Supreme Court has banned mining activities in Tumkur, Bellary and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka. The top court has allowed state-run NMDC to mine upto 1 million tonne per month from its mines in Bellary district.

Iron ore exports from India are likely to fall by more than a quarter to their lowest level in eight years in the fiscal 2012, a Reuters poll showed.

Iron ore sales are forecast to fall to 71.25 million tonnes in the current year to next March, from 95 million tonnes in the previous year, according to the median estimate in a Reuters poll of 10 iron ore miners, exporters and analysts.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com