India may face iron ore shortage in 2031

India may face iron ore shortage in 2031. This was announced by market participants at a specialized conference organized by the Mjunction company, reports Kallanish.

Demand for this raw material in the country will increase significantly in the coming years due to an increase in steel production – from the current 194 million tons per year to 350 million tons by the 2030/2031 financial year. This will put a lot of pressure on domestic supplies.

According to Odisha Mining Corporation CEO Vivek Nath, the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has set a limit of 45% iron content as usable iron ore, limiting the supply of higher-quality raw materials to just 260 million tonnes this year. Without technological progress, a large part of the material remains unusable.

By FY2030/2031, Nath added, India could face an iron ore supply shortfall of 22 million tonnes, signaling a potential shift from a surplus country to a shortage of high-quality raw materials.

In the 2024/2025 fiscal year, the Odisha Mining Corporation itself plans to supply more than 40 million tons of iron ore, reports India Blooms. Odisha currently accounts for 25% of India’s total steel production.

It is expected that in the current year, ore production in the country will reach 405 million tons at the expense of new mines that went to auctions and those that have not stopped working. However, in India there is a regional imbalance in this matter – we are talking about an excess of SRS in the east of the country and a deficit in the central and southern regions. This leads to logistical problems and higher costs for steel plants located outside the coast.

As a result of this imbalance, as well as high domestic logistics costs, ore imports will remain attractive to coastal steel mills in the medium to long term.

India is a net exporter of iron ore, but it also imports high-quality raw materials from Australia, Brazil, South Africa, etc. Last year, foreign supplies of ore to the country amounted to about 5 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, India will stimulate the enrichment of iron ore for the needs of the metallurgical industry and its transition to ecological steel production. Steel production in the country is expected to reach the level of 200-210 million tons by the 2029/2030 financial year, which is 40-47% more than in the 2023/2024 financial year. Such rapid growth will lead to a sharp increase in domestic consumption and ore production, but the availability of raw materials with a higher iron content remains in question.