Iron & steel is that the drive behind industrial development in any country. The vitality of the Iron & steel industry largely influences a country's economic status. The mining of ore, an important staple for Iron & steel industry, is arguably of prime importance among all mining activities undertaken by any country. With the entire resources of over 33.276 billion tonnes of haematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4), India is amongst the leading producers of ore within the world.
The primary use of ore is within the production of iron. Most of the iron produced is then wont to make steel. Steel is used to form automobiles, locomotives, and ships, beams utilized in buildings, furniture, paper clips, and tools, reinforcing rods for concrete, bicycles, and thousands of other items. It’s the most-used metal by both tonnage and purpose. Steel may be a processed sort of iron with impurities like silicon, phosphorus and sulfur removed and with a discount within the carbon content. Globally, steel's versatility is unsurpassed. Iron (low carbon) and forged iron (pig iron) even have important markets. One of the foremost ubiquitous products in Australia is sheet metal, a structural sheet steel shaped into parallel furrows and ridges.
Global iron ore production will modestly grow to 3,119 million tonne by 2028 from 2,850 million in 2019, Fitch Solutions Macro Research said in a report today. This represents an average annual growth of 0.5 per cent during 2019-2028, which is a significant slowdown from an average growth of 2.9 per cent during 2009-2018, it said. The supply growth would be primarily driven by India and Brazil where major miner Vale is set to expand output with its new mine. On the other hand, miners in China, which operate at the higher end of the iron ore cost curve will be forced to cut output due to fall in ore grades.
India’s finished steel consumption grew at a CAGR of 5.69 per cent during FY08-FY18 to reach 90.68 MT. India’s crude steel and finished steel production increased to 106.56 MT and 131.57 MT in 2018-19, respectively. In FY20 (till November 2019), crude steel and finished steel production stood at 73.17 MT and 67.52 MT respectively. During 2018-19, 6.36 MT of steel was exported from India. Exports and imports of finished steel stood at 5.75 MT and 5.07 MT, respectively, in FY20P (up to November 2019). As a whole any entrepreneur can venture in this project without risk and earn profit.
Government Initiatives
Some of the other recent government initiatives in this sector are as follows:
- Government introduced Steel Scrap Recycling Policy aimed to reduce
- import.
- An export duty of 30 per cent has been levied on iron ore^ (lumps and fines) to ensure supply to domestic steel industry.
- Government of India’s focus on infrastructure and restarting road projects is aiding the boost in demand for steel. Also, further likely acceleration in rural economy and infrastructure is expected to lead to growth in demand for steel.
- The Union Cabinet, Government of India has approved the National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017, as it seeks to create a globally competitive steel industry in India. NSP 2017 envisages 300 million tonnes (MT) steel-making capacity and 160 kgs per capita steel consumption by 2030-31.
- The Ministry of Steel is facilitating setting up of an industry driven Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) in association with the public and private sector steel companies to spearhead research and development activities in the iron and steel industry at an initial corpus of Rs 200 crore (US$ 30 million).
- The Government of India raised import duty on most steel items twice, each time by 2.5 per cent and imposed measures including anti-dumping and safeguard duties on iron and steel items.
Huge scope for growth is offered by India’s comparatively low per capita steel consumption and the expected rise in consumption due to increased infrastructure construction and the thriving automobile and railways sectors.
Few Indian major players are as under
Mineral Enterprises Ltd.
Mandovi Pellets Ltd
Idcol Kalinga Iron Works Ltd.
Essel Mining & Inds. Ltd.
Brahmani River Pellet Ltd.
Bonai Industrial Co. Ltd.
Arya Iron & Steel Co. Pvt. Ltd
Odisha Mining Corpn. Ltd.
Obulapuram Mining Co. Pvt. Ltd.
