Not sure how much traction this will get. If they are going to...

Not sure how much traction this will get. If they are going to hit 300mtpa by 2030, India will need to build up considerable reserves. If 44mtpa got taken out of the seaborne market, well this would have a material impact on the IO price.

https://m.economictimes.com/industr...hina-sales-jump/amp_articleshow/107934885.cms

Indian steel mills seek iron ore export ban as China sales jump

Agencies
Synopsis

Smaller steelmakers in India seek a ban on iron ore exports after a 170% surge in sales to Chinese mills inflated local prices. Fearing industry shutdowns, lobby groups from major manufacturing states request government restrictions. Second-tier producers, constituting 40% of national output, face higher input costs than top mills. Any export limits could support iron ore prices

By Swansy Afonso, Bloomberg
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Feb 23, 2024, 12:04:00 PM IST
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Smaller steelmakers in India are pressing for a ban on exports of iron ore, after a surge in sales to Chinese mills pushed up local prices.

Indian exports jumped 170% to 44 million tons last year — most of which went to China — at a time when domestic demand for the raw material is rising. That’s prompted the worst-affected sections of the industry to seek restrictions from the authorities to protect their margins.

“We have asked the government to ban exports of all forms of iron ore — otherwise China’s steel industry will run and ours will shut,” Anil Nachrani, president of the Chhattisgarh Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association, said in a phone interview this week. “India should be an exporter of steel and not iron ore,” he said.

Nachrani said smaller mills in at least five major manufacturing states have banded together to lobby the steel ministry after many became loss-making. Second-tier producers, which account for about 40% of nationwide output, have been paying almost four times more than bigger operations, he said. India’s top mills can negotiate better prices for inputs like iron ore and coal and often have their own mines.