Flagging off the first pellet shipment of 66,700 tons to Iran in New Mangalore Port on Saturday, chairman and managing director of the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) said “it is a momentous day for us”. After completing the loading of pellets, the cargo vessel M V Aries will set sail on Monday and is likely to reach Iran on January 8, the Indian daily New Indian Express reported. Earlier, speaking to reporters at the plant at Panambur, Chatterjee hoped that the first shipment would pave the way for a long-term engagement with Iranian steel mills. Following a slump in steel prices and ban on iron ore export, KIOCL was looking at the means to meet overhead expenses of its “debt-free” 3.5 million tons per annum pellet plant in Panambur. Aware of the huge gap between demand and supply of iron ore pellets in Iran (20 million ton of pellets), KIOCL decided to buy iron ore from Brazil and convert it into pellets (with an FE content of over 66%).
