MINERALS - GEOGRAPHY
News: Centre scraps export duty on iron ore and steel items
What is in the news?
●
India scrapped export taxes on low grade iron ore
and on some intermediate steel products.
●
A notification, issued
late on Friday, reverses the imposition in May of a 50% tax on exports of iron
ore lumps and fines with less than 58% iron content.
●
The government also
reversed a May increase in export tax on iron ore concentrates other than
roasted iron pyrites. That tax returns to 30% from 50%.
● On November 19, the Government also removed a 15% export tax on some intermediate steel products, such as bars and rods, that it had also imposed in May.
Purpose of imposing export duty on steel products:
●
The additional tax
imposed in May was intended to boost domestic supply of iron ore, a raw
ingredient for making steel, and thereby hold down inflation.
● India exported less than half as much steel in the seven months to October as it did a year earlier.
Iron ore production in India:
●
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron
can be extracted.
●
India has large iron ore reserves. It occurs in
various geological formations but major economic deposits are found in volcano-sedimentary Banded Iron Formation
(BIF) from the Precambrian age.
● Indian producers of low-grade ore depend largely on foreign markets, because most major domestic steel producers use high grade iron ore.
Types of iron ores:
1. Magnetite:
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It is the most important
and best kind of iron ore.
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It contains about 72% metallic iron in it.
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It has excellent magnetic
qualities, especially valuable in the electrical industry.
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It is found in Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala.
2. Hematite:
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Hematite ore is the most
important industrial iron ore in terms of the quantity used but has a slightly
lower iron content than magnetite.
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It contains about 60-70 percent metallic iron in it.
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It is red and brown in
color.
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It is found in Odisha,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
●
In the western section,
Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa have this kind of ore.
3. Limonite:
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It contains about 30 to 40 percent metallic iron in it.
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It is mostly yellow in
color.
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It is low-grade iron ore.
4. Siderite:
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It has more impurities.
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It contains about 48 percent metallic iron content in it.
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It is brown in color.
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It contains a mixture of
iron and carbon.
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It is low-grade iron ore.
● It is self-fluxing due to the presence of lime.
Iron ore reserves distribution:
●
The total recoverable
reserves of iron ore in India are about 9,602 million tonnes of hematite and
3,408 million tonnes of magnetite.
●
Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are the principal Indian producers of iron
ore.
●
The resources of very high-grade
ore are limited and are restricted mainly in Bailadila sector of Chhattisgarh
and to a lesser extent in Bellary-Hospet area of Karnataka and in Jharkhand and
Orissa.
●
Haematite
and magnetite are the most important iron ores in India.
About 79% haematite ore deposits are found in the Eastern Sector (Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha & Uttar Pradesh) while about 93% magnetite
ore deposits occur in Southern Sector (Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala,
& Tamil Nadu)
●
Although some quantities
of iron ore are found in several parts of the country, the major part of the
reserves are highly concentrated in a few selected areas. Only six states i.e.
Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Goa account for
over 95 percent of the total reserves of India.
● Jharkhand has the largest reserves accounting for about 25 per cent of the total reserves of India. This is followed by Orissa (21%), Karnataka (20%), Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (18%) and Goa (11%). The remaining 5 percent is shared by Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam.
Iron ore exports:
●
India is the fifth largest exporter of iron ore in the
world.
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About 50 to 60 percent of
our total iron ore production goes to countries like Japan, Korea, European
countries, and lately to Gulf countries.
●
Japan
is the biggest buyer of Indian iron ore accounting for about three-fourths of
our total exports.
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Major ports handling iron
ore export are Vishakhapatnam, Paradip, Marmagao and Mangalore.