Iron miners demand removal of import duties – The Financial Express

Reacting to the steel industry’s demand to ban iron ore exports, the miners wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), calling for the removal of import duties and other duties intended to protect the national steel industry which they claim has engaged in “ taking advantage of ” taking undue advantage of the current market situation.

Last week, the steel industry’s representative body, Indian Steel Association (ISA), urged the PMO to impose a temporary six-month iron ore export ban in order to overcome the current supply crisis that drives up the price of raw material and drives up the price of steel. hike.

The Federation of Indian Mining Industries (FIMI), in its letter to PMO on December 31, said the ISA letter “obscures the whole issue and justifies the unjustifiable increase in steel prices.”

“The duplicity of steel producers about the iron ore shortage is well exposed, as some of the major steel producers export iron ore themselves. The very fact that the steel companies export iron ore means that there is no shortage of iron ore, otherwise they would have used it in their steelworks, ”said FIMI.

Importantly, almost all of the major steel players now have their captive sources where iron ore is available at transfer prices. FIMI said that while the Indian steel industry sets its prices almost at the same level as the international level; Indian ore prices are still much lower than international prices.

“The arguments made by the ISA in its letter are devoid of fact and appear to have been sent with the misguided intention to continue to profit from market conditions and continue to profit from them,” said FIMI.