The export of iron ore has seen a constant decline since May last year and hit the lowest in November with only 15,000 metric tons of the raw material exported, Fooladnews reported.
During the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 20), the country exported around 2.89 million metric tons of iron ore worth $199 million, which indicated a 9% decrease compared to the similar period last year. The export during the third month of the Iranian calendar (May 22- June 21) stood at 1.19 million metric tons while the figure in the fourth month (starting June 22) was 1.12 million metric tons. Small fluctuations continued in the fifth and sixth months with 1.28 and 1.07 million metric tons respectively.
But the seventh month (September 23-October 22) was the beginning of the crisis as iron ore exports fell to only 200,000 metric tons, less than one-fifth of the volume exported in the previous month. The situation went from bad to worse in the following month which saw only a meager 15,000-metric-ton of iron ore exported.
Neither of the officials in the ministry of industry, mine, and trade or the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) have so far made any official announcement regarding the reasons behind the sharp decline in iron ore exports. This is while the experts in the steel sector believe the current situation could lead to a permanent halt in export.
On the other hand, global iron ore prices have also significantly dropped from $136 per ton at the beginning of 2014 to nearly $75 per ton, causing serious concerns for producers and exporters of the material, especially owners of small private iron ore mines.
