NEW DELHI: According to latest trade statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce in India, the iron ore exports by the country dropped sharply during the month of September this year. Sharp decline was seen in export price too. This is when compared with the same month a year ago.
The iron ore exports by India during September 2015 totaled 98,405 tonnes, sharply down by 48.4% when compared with the exports during same month in 2014. The country had exported 190,690 tonnes of iron ore during September last year. Also, export prices considerably by over 40% over the year. The iron ore export prices averaged at $49.90 per tonne in September ’15 as against $83.20 per tonne in September 2014. The iron ore exports during the month valued at $4.910 million.
The largest destination of Indian iron ore export was China. The Chinese imports totaled 98,309 tonnes, accounting for nearly 99.9% of the total exports by India. The second largest export destination was Kuwait with 54 tonnes, followed by Nepal with 35 tonnes.
The cumulative iron ore exports by India during the nine-month period from January to September in 2015 totaled 2.577 million tonnes. The primary importer of Indian iron ore during the nine-month period was China. The imports by China totaled 1.276 million tonnes, accounting for almost 50% of the total exports by India during Jan-Sep ’15. The second largest importer was Japan (576,712 tonnes), followed by Iran (488,473). The other key export destinations of Indian iron ore were South Korea (149,089 tonnes), Oman (27,608 tonnes) and the UAE (21,945 tonnes).
The export price during this period averaged at $63.0 per tonne, dropping by nearly 29.2% when compared with $89.1 per tonne. The total value of exports touched $162.463 million.
