India’s pellet export market has turned silent after the Union government imposed a 45% export duty on the export of pellets in May 2022, said KIOCL Ltd., a State-owned PSU operating under the Ministry of Steel here on Saturday.
“The county’s pellet export market has turned silent after the announcement of a steep hike in the export duty of 45%. This came as a blow to the company resulting in intermittent operations of Pellet Plant and adverse impact on its performance,’‘ said T. Saminathan, CMD of KIOCL, here on Saturday.
Addressing shareholders at the company’s AGM, he said the PSU had taken up the matter with the Ministry of Steel seeking exemption of export duty for the KIOCL, it being an export-oriented unit.
During fiscal 2021-22, the company produced 2.03 million tonnes of pellets and dispatched 2.07 million tonnes of them. It also reported an export of 2.03 million tonnes of pellets that earned revenue of ₹2,809.5 crore.
For a sustainable future, he said the company was continuously working on various short- and long-term expansion and diversifications projects, which were at different stages of implementation.
The iron ore producer incurred a CAPEX of ₹290.45 crore, highest post closure of captive mine, in the previous fiscal and for FY23, it earmarked an ambitious target of ₹384.63 crore, according to Mr. Saminathan.
