Indian Iron Ore Export Drops 61% in Q1 FY`19

Why have Indian iron ore export volumes come down sharply?
Goa Mining Ban:
The declining exports from Goa miners owing to cancellation of mining operations at 88 mining lease post 15th Mar`18 by the Supreme court resulted fall in export volumes. Goan miners were permitted to export iron ore mined previously to the ban imposition (15th Mar`18), on which royalty was paid, and material lying at jetties, with halt in new mining operations. This resulted in low exports in quarter and nil exports in the month of June`18.
NMDC iron ore exports remain nil in Q1 FY19:
Exports from NMDC continued to remain nil for the 3rd consecutive month in June`18. Iron ore exported by NMDC under MMTC under Long-Term Agreement to South Korea & Japan was subject to an export duty of 10% which expired on 31 Mar`18. And as of now, there has been no update regarding duty structure.
Indian iron ore export drop to 1-year low in Jun`18
Indian iron ore exports in June`18 witnessed at 0.34 MnT, down 58% M-o-M as against 0.79 MnT in May`18. The exports have dropped down to lowest since June`17 at 0.25 MnT.
Vedanta remains the largest iron ore exporter
Vedanta marked the largest exporter for the quarter Q1 FY19 at 0.77 MnT, down 52% as against 1.59 MnT in Q4 FY18. Vedanta`s exports remained nil in June. Rungta mines stood the second largest exporter at 0.57 MnT, down 23% Q-o-Q. Other major exporters were VM Salgaonkar at 0.52 MnT (up 17% Q-o-Q), and Chowgule and Company at 0.17 MnT.
For the month of June`18, Rungta mines stood the largest exporter at 0.28 MnT (up 23% M-o-M), followed by Essel mining at 0.03 MnT (up by more than two folds M-o-M).

Indian exports to China decline 56% Q-o-Q in Q1 FY`19.
China stood the largest importer contributing 88% of total export share in Q1 FY19. China imported 2.04 MnT in Q1 FY19, down by 56% as against 4.67 MnT in Q4 FY18. Owing to strict environmental issues in China, demand for high grade ore (Brazillain and Australlian ore) has increased, resulting in declining imports from India.
Japan imported 0.12 MnT (down 87% Q-o-Q), followed by Indonesia at 0.06 MnT (down 63% on quarterly basis).
For the month of June`18, China accounted for 82% of total imports at 0.28 MnT, decline of 62% on monthly basis. The remaining 18% export share contributed by Indonesia at 0.06 MnT.

Country wise Indian Iron Ore Export

Country Q1 FY`19 Q4 FY`18 Q-o-Q (%) June`18 May`18 M-o-M (%)
China 2.04 4.67 -56% 0.28 0.72 -62%
Japan 0.12 0.89 -87% - 0.08 -100%
Indonesia 0.06 0.16 -63% 0.06 - 100%
South Korea - 0.15 -100% - - -
Philiippines 0.09 - 100% - - -
Grand Total 2.31 5.87 -61% 0.34 0.79 -58%
Quantity in MnT
Source: SteelMint Research
Provisional Data
Iron ore exports from Mormugao port down 60% in Q1 FY`19
In Q1 FY19, exports from Mormugao port recorded at 1.67 MnT, down 60% Q-o-Q as against 4.21 MnT in Q4 FY18. . Paradip stood second at 0.47 MnT (down 26%) followed by Dharma at 0.11 MnT.
In June`18, Paradip port accounted for major share of exports, 78% share at 0.26 MnT, up 26% on monthly basis, followed by Dharma at 0.05 MnT and Haldia at 0.02 MnT .