China keen on buying iron ore from India

 J J Irani, chairman of the Indian Steel Alliance (ISA), confirmed that Chinese steel makers were interested in importing iron ore from India.

 The Chinese delegates wanted long-term contracts for the export of iron ore, Irani said, in response to a mailed questionnaire from Business Standard.

 D V Singh, joint secretary in the ministry of steel, informed the Chinese delegates that this was possible and discussions would have to be held with National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (NMDC). However, no timeline or quantity to be contracted was fixed.

 Irani said it was made clear that India had exported iron ore to several countries, mostly to South Korea and to Japan, in the past and still did so.

 The requirements of China would have to be dovetailed into the Indian iron ore export programme, he added. Indian companies exported around 10 million tonnes of iron ore for Rs 986 crore in 2001-02.

 India has also offered to work together with China under the aegis of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the formulation of an agreement on steel subsidies.

 It is worth noting that the OECD has spoken of freezing world steel capacity and phasing out of subsidies given to steelmakers.