Quality issues likely to hit Indian iron ore sales

The country's iron ore exports and prices could be hit due to quality issues raised by its biggest buyer China, an Indian industry official said on Thursday.

China's quality watchdog, the General Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), had earlier said 36.13% of Indian ore shipments delivered to Jiangsu province in the first four months of the year were substandard.

AQSIQ said in a notice posted on its website (www.aqsiq.gov.cn) that 827 shipments, worth $2.2 billion, either had a lower iron content than stipulated in contracts or contained too many impurities.
"We should check the quality of ore before shipping. It is a serious issue. It may affect India's exports (and) price realisation," said Basant Poddar, vice-president, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.

He added that the problem lay mostly with traders who had recently started exporting.

"It is happening mainly from traders. Most shipments from miners are up to the mark," Poddar added.

FIMI represents India's mining industry.