India's iron ore exports surged nearly 500% in August

By Anil Mathews

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): The most recent statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India indicate that iron ore exports by India skyrocketed during the month of August this year. The year-to-date exports too were higher when matched with the previous year.

As per Ministry data, the country’s preliminary iron ore exports from various ports totaled 1.073 million tonnes (Mt) during the month, significantly higher by 482.4% when matched with the exports of 184,265tonnes during August last year. The value of exports jumped higher by 483.5% year-on-year from $10.637 million in August last year to $62.064 million this year. The average export price inched higher marginally by 0.2% to $57.80 per tonne. The exports had averaged at $57.70 per tonne during August last year. Among ports, Port Paradip exported 725,398 tonnes, accounting for nearly 68% of the country’s total exports. The other major loading ports by volume were Port Dhamra (220,800 tonnes) and Gangavaram (77,384 tonnes).

The non-agglomerated iron ore exports totaled 295,058 tonnes in Aug ‘16, considerably higher by over 3,000% when compared with the exports of 9,461 tonnes during August last year. The value of non-agglomerated exports surged higher by 3,400% year-on-year from $258,000 to $9.061 million during the month. The average price of export was up by 12.6% from $27.3 per tonne to $30.70 per tonne. The major ports that accounted for non-agglomerated iron ore export during the month were: Port Dhamra (169,800 tonnes) and Port Paradip (124,777 tonnes). There were no exports from Port Marmagoa on account of heavy monsoon.

According to Ministry data, the country shipped agglomerated iron ore mainly through Port of Paradip, Gangavaram and Dhamra. The exports totaled 778,121 tonnes in Aug ‘16, significantly higher by over 345% when matched with 174,804 tonnes during the same month last year.

The cumulative iron ore exports by the country during the initial eight-month period of the year totaled 10.343 million tonnes, notably higher by 314.1% when matched with the 2.497 million tonnes exported during January to August in 2015. Also, the value of exports increased sharply by 176% from $158.054 million to $436.246 million. Over the period, export price dropped sharply to $42.2 per tonne. The exports by the country had averaged at $63.3 per tonne during the first eight-month period in 2015. Port Marmagoa accounted for over 50% of the country’s exports during this period. The shipments from the port totaled 5.228 million tonnes. The other main loading ports were Port Paradip (2.895 million tonnes) and Dhamra (1.179 million tonnes).

The non-agglomerated iron ore exports totaled 7.663 Mt in Jan-Aug ‘16, considerably higher by 342% when compared with the exports of 1.735 Mt during January to August last year. Also, the value of non-agglomerated exports surged higher by 226.4% year-on-year from $81.472 million to $265.899 million during the eight-month period. However, the average price of export has dropped by 26.1% from $47.0 per tonne to $34.7 per tonne. The key ports that accounted for bulk of the non-agglomerated iron ore export during this period were: Port Marmagoa (5.228 Mt), Dhamra (856,325 tonnes) and Redi (789,395 tonnes).

As per data, the country shipped agglomerated iron ore mainly through Port Paradip and Dhamra. The exports totaled 2.680 Mt in Jan-Aug ‘16, significantly higher by over 250% when matched with the exports of 762,453 tonnes during the same period last year.