India to possibly raise iron ore export tax again

The Indian government may well raise the iron ore export tax rate again from the current 20%, in order to secure the domestic supply, according to the Indian Ministry of Steel.

The ministry says that in the past three years, the Indian iron ore production has reached as twice as much of the domestic demand. Thus, the government will not take the banning or rationing measures to protect the resource, but adopt a more suitable financial measure.

Based on the official data, during the 2010-11 ending March 31, 2011, India’s iron ore output was 208 million metric tonnes, while the total consumption was 111 million metric tonnes. Early this year, the Indian government had increased fine ore and lump ore export taxes from 5-15% to 20%.