: Indian Steel Association writes to PM demanding iron ore export ban for 6months #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS Indian Steel Association writes to PM demanding iron ore export ban for 6-months New

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Indian Steel Association writes to PM demanding iron ore export ban for 6months #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS
Indian Steel Association writes to PM demanding iron ore export ban for 6-months New Delhi, Jan 4 (KNN) The Indian Steel Association (ISA) has dashed-off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a ban on iron ore export for six months.

"We would like to highlight some of the very serious and compelling reasons which have left the steel industry with no recourse, but to raise prices of steel from time to time," the Steel Association in its letter dated 28 December.

It also informed the Prime Minister Office (PMO) about the price increase of the metal and said, A temporary ban of iron ore export for a 6-month period till the situation stabilises is the need of the hour. This will help the domestic steel industry in increasing the availability of iron ore in the country.

The ISA mentioned issues related to iron ore, price rise of raw materials, shortage in global steel supply and lower capacity utilisation due to COVID-induced disruptions.

"Due to a temporary shortage of steel in the wake of the COVID-19 disruptions, the international prices surged to over USD 750 per tonne from the bottom of USD 397 per tonne witnessed this year. As India is an open economy, the steel prices in the country move up with the global prices," ISA secretary general Bhaskar Chatterjee mentioned in the letter.

Chatterjee further mentioned that the iron ore price has increased more than double from Rs 1,960 to Rs 4,160 per tonne in the period of June-December 2020.

"With an increase of Rs 1,000 in iron ore prices, the minimum impact is Rs 2,000 per tonne in steelmaking," Chatterjee said.

Iron ore production in the April-October period of 2020 was at 92.08 million tonne, registering a sharp de-growth of 30 per cent over the same period last year.

On the other hand, iron ore exports had surged by 70.3 per cent to 29.2 million tonne in the first half of the current fiscal.

Explaining why the metal price has been raised, the ISA said Indian crude steel production fell by 19 per cent in the current financial year.

"Indian steel industry faced severe disruptions in production caused by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, many steel companies in India with sub-optimal operating capacity showed substantial cash losses due to non- absorption of huge fixed costs for the quarter ended June 2020," it added.