SHWETA KAMAT
shweta@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: What was once uttered by Goa’s leading mining bigwigs that, “Mining in Goa, is a sunset industry,” now seems to have come true with the imposition of the ban on mining operations which has driven away its biggest buyer ~China.
A series of production bans and export tariff hikes – designed to help Indian steelmakers – have pushed Goa’s and consequently India’s, by large, iron ore exports to the cliff. India which was until recently the third- largest exporter of ore used in making steel, after Australia and Brazil, has no business left.
The Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association (GMOEA), admitting the above said ‘Goa has been a reliable supplier of iron ore to China but in the current situation, the state is losing its credibility’.
“There was a relationship developed for decades and hence there was an element of trust. State was getting sentimental value from its buyers. But now we have started losing our reliability,” GMOEA secretary Glen Kalavampara told Herald. He said apart from the series of actions in the state, global recession has also hit China and its market.
The industrial players from the mining sector in Goa have lamented that there is ‘no market left in China for Goa’s iron ore’. The buyers in China, have been reportedly saying as published by some National Media last month, that, ‘a decline in iron ore exports from India following a crackdown by the government to check illegal mining has prompted China to begin exploring alternative markets to source its requirement of ore,’.
While Australia and Brazil continue to supply 75 percent of China’s need, followed by South Africa, new markets have also emerged viz~Indonesia, Ukraine, Iran and other south-east Asian countries.
The mine owners in Goa are very much aware about the situation and see no future of state’s low grade iron ore. Harish Melwani, a mine owner said ‘buyers in China have already informed us that they are not interested in doing business with Goa’.
“State’s iron ore supply is not very stable. Who can tell what the iron ore policy is? There is no idea when there would be clarity on legal and illegal mining. `Chinese companies are looking for alternatives,” he said.
Goan iron ore’s quality ranges between 46 per cent to 59 per cent of Fe. Most of the ore from the state is exported as there are no many takers for the same in the Country.
One of the State’s leading mining major ~Shivanand Salgaoncar said ‘there is no trust left. Trust, is an important aspect of a business, which has been running for decades. Goa has lost its market in China’.
He said that in the absence of iron ore from India, of which Goa contributes more than 50 percent, the competing nations such as Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia has made up the supply.
“Even if mining resumes, it would be a very difficult task to get back the loss,” he stated.
Sesa Goa Managing director, P K Mukherjee, as reported by Herald, last year had said, ‘it’s tough to put timelines on when things will start to improve, and even after mining is allowed it’s tough to say how customers will react as a lot of relationships have been hurt over the last few quarters’.
