Iranian Iron Ore Exporters to Benefit From Goa Mining Halt (Financial Tribune – February 14, 2018)

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A recent Supreme Court of India’s decision to cancel all iron ore mining leases in an ore-rich state can open the way for Iranian ore miners to increase their share in the Chinese market.

In its Feb. 7 verdict, the Supreme Court canceled the second renewal of all the 88 iron ore mining leases renewed by the state government in Goa. No mining activities will continue in the state after March 15, the top court decided, ordering the government to grant the leases afresh through auctions.

The verdict came on a plea filed by non-government organization Goa Foundation, with the petitioners claiming that mining undertaken through theses leases was illegal, Bloomberg reported. The court order will impact the annual 20-million-ton capacity.

According to SteelMint, iron ore export from Goa is expected to decrease over the new verdict and Chinese steelmakers could shift to Iran for iron ore procurement. Iran shipped around 19.4 million tons of iron ore to China in 2017, registering a growth of 34% year-on-year and becoming the sixth largest supplier of the material to the world’s largest importer.

Top ore exporters to China in 2017 were Australia, Brazil, South Africa, India, Ukraine and Iran respectively, according to Chinese customs statistics shared with Financial Tribune by senior market analyst, Keyvan Jafari Tehrani.

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