Iron ore exports from India dipping: China

Speaking at the International Iron Ore & Steel Making Raw Materials conference near here Thursday, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Embassy of China Peng Gang said efforts made by China and India were complementary, as far as the ore trade sector was concerned.

"India has been China's second largest source of imported iron ore till 2008 with the largest quantity of 107 million tonnes in 2009 and the largest market share of 25 percent in 2005,” he said.

“However, due to some reason, India’s exports of iron ore was continuing to drop while the share of Indian iron ore in China’s market was dropping accordingly in recent years," he added. He said that in the first half of this year, Indian iron ore exports to China decrease to 15 percent from 25 percent in 2005.

Peng said that India was ranked as the third largest producer and exporter of iron ore in the world with more than 20 billion tonnes of rich ore reserves.   “China and India are complementary to each other in many ways, especially in ore trade sector,” he said.

The international conference comes against the backdrop of uncertainty in the mining sector as well as a potential ban on iron ore exports from Goa.