Secondary steel makers in Chhattisgarh have threatened to block the transportation of iron ore from the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) mines if their units close due to shortage of raw material.
The industrialists had decided to take stringent action if the NMDC management did not accept their demands that include further slashing the price of major steel making raw material.
The board of NMDC, country's largest producer and exporter of iron ore with two of its three fully mechanised mines located in the state, had on Thursday decided to reduce the price of iron-ore by 25 per cent with effect from December 1. But the secondary steel producers in the state, whom NMDC provides 3 million tonnes of iron ore, have refused to entertain the decision. The local industrialists claim that they are the third biggest buyer of iron ore from the NMDC after Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Essar Steel.
“At the crucial meeting, the industrialists decided to mount pressure on the NMDC to further reduce the price and bring it to Rs 1672 per tonne,” Chhattisgarh sponge iron manufacturers’ association President Anil Nachrani said.
The industrialists also demanded to exempt Rs 130 crore due on them since the NMDC in October hiked the price of iron ore by 40 per cent with effect from April 1. After the hike, the local industrialists stopped purchasing the raw material from the public sector undertaking.
