India iron ore exports declined 71% in July

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): 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 July this year. Huge cuts were seen in export prices too. This is when compared with the same month a year ago.

The iron ore exports by India during July       2015 totaled 92,907 tonnes, sharply down by 71.3% when compared with the exports during same month in 2014. The country had exported 323,875 tonnes of iron ore during July last year. Also, export prices dropped marginally by 0.20% over the year. The iron ore export prices averaged at $99.9 per tonne in July ’15 as against $100.10 per tonne in July 2014. The iron ore exports during the month valued at $9.3282 million.

The largest destination of Indian iron ore export was Iran. The Iranian imports totaled 69,996 tonnes, accounting for nearly 75% of the total exports by India. The second largest export destination was the UAE with 21,756 tonnes, followed by Nepal with 1,153 tonnes.

The cumulative iron ore exports by India during the seven-month period from January to July in 2015 totaled 2.373 million tonnes. The primary importer of Indian iron ore during the seven-month period was China. The imports by China totaled 1.104 million tonnes, accounting for almost 46% of the total exports by India during Jan-Jul ’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 $64.30 per tonne, dropping by nearly 28% when compared with $89.2 per tonne. The total value of exports touched $152.57 million.