
to the government to immediately put a complete ban on iron ore pellets stating that such a move would help meet the domestic requirement. FIMI letter to Steel Ministry said “It can be observed that 9 million tonnes of iron ore pellets have been exported mainly illegally by the pellet manufacturers other than KIOCL. 62-64 per cent Fe is required for manufacturing of pellets. Had these illegal exports of pellets by private entities not been allowed, domestic steel industry would have met their requirement to that extent.”
FIMI also made a plea to the government for urgent intervention to introduce a price monitoring and regulation mechanism for sale of steel by integrated producers so as to ensure that there is no unreasonable hike in domestic steel prices due to any increase in international iron ore prices.
Indian steel sector has been facing an acute shortage of iron ore, which is a key raw material for making steel.