FIMI demands roll back of export duty hike on iron ore

03 Apr 2012 Evaluate

The mining industry has demanded that the 30% hike in export duty of iron ore be rolled back. In a letter to the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has stated that the duty hike is actually proving to be counterproductive for all concerned.

FIMI has pointed out that 92% of the iron ore exports comprise of the low grade iron ore- fines, which does not find too many domestic buyers. For every one tonne of lumps (iron ore with more than 60% Fe content), about 2.5 tonnes of fines is produced. Given its large quantity and low domestic demand, companies have no option but to export it. Moreover the increased duty has made exports unviable and it is expected that they will come down by about 50% in the FY’12 fiscal to 50-52 million tonnes (MT). Such a huge reduction will mean losses for the industry.

Building its case further, FIMI has observed that the government itself is losing on export duty due to reduced exports, whereas the States are earning less royalty revenues due to reduced output. Also, the earnings of the Railways and the Ports are impacted due to lower traffic volumes during the year.

Uncertainty in policies is also impacting the foreign direct investment and investment in exploration. Besides, the curb on mining in Karnataka has also added to lower exports, impacting profit margins as well government revenues.

Late December, the Government had hiked the export duty on iron ore fines and lumps to 30% from the earlier 20%. Iron ore exports for 2011-12 were estimated at around 50 million tonnes, down 50% from the previous year's 97.64 million tonnes. The trend is largely attributed to export duty hikes.

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