Severe shortage of iron ore in the domestic market has forced JSW Steel to import around 6 million tonnes of iron ore in the current fiscal from overseas market, the company said on Wednesday. JSW does not have a captive iron ore mine.
Seshagiri Rao, Jt MD, JSW Steel and Group CFO in a statement said: “The recent closure of mines in Odisha, delay in opening up of mines in Karnataka and Goa had resulted in acute shortage of iron ore in the country.
We have decided to import half a million tonne of high-grade ore every month to maintain the capacity utilisation at optimum level. The surging iron ore prices due to shortages in India is matter of grave concern when international iron ore prices dropped by more than 30 per cent in the last 12 months.”