Wednesday, February 10, 2010

India Unlikely To Profit From Brazil Iron Ore Export Tax

The secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, R K Sharma, has said that he doesn’t expect India to profit should Brazil impose export tax on iron ore export as has been suggested.

Mr Sharma said that India does not have an adequate infrastructure to handle the larger ships that would be needed for any increase in exports. However he also said that supplies from India are usually made to fill any gap in supplies from Brazil and Australia. Any shortage in supplies from Brazil will probably be met through Australia. Mr Sharma added that India’s exports are unlikely to exceed 110 million tonnes – not much more than at present.

India tends to supply the smaller steel mills in China with the larger mills buying in much bigger quantities from Brazil and Australia.

Indian iron ore mining companies pay a five per cent duty on exports, which is expected to rise to 20 per cent in the forthcoming Union Budget. This will make iron ore costlier. The average price of ore with 63 per cent of iron content at Chinese ports from India has risen recently to $124.50 a tonne from $122.50 a tonne.

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