Iron ore output to rise 5% in FY19 on stable demand from infra, auto

About 90% of iron ore mined in FY18 was for domestic use; rest was shipped to China, Japan, South Korea, Oman, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia

Domestic iron ore production is projected to grow by five per cent in 2018-19, helped by a stable demand from the infrastructure and automobile industries. Apart from the anticipated growth in production, demand for iron ore inside the country will be met by the accumulated ore stocks at mine heads, chiefly in the states of Odisha and Jharkhand which between them account for 80 per cent of the piled up inventory.

In FY18, the country produced 210 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore, up nine per cent year-on-year and breaching the 200 mt mark in output after a hiatus of