PREVIEW: Dial up the concern on future Indian iron ore supply

The availability of Indian iron ore in the international market is shrouded in uncertainty amid falling seaborne prices and concerns over domestic supply in the South Asian country due to the impending expiration of non-captive mine leases in March 2020.

The Indian parliament had in 2015 passed an amendment of its mining legislation, stipulating an expiry date of March 31 next year for all existing non-captive mining leases in the country and March 31, 2030 for captive mines.
Next year's expiry will affect some 80 million tonnes of annual iron ore capacity mainly located in the Indian state of Odisha.
Under the amendment, new leases will have to be secured via an auction. This process began in October for the leases due to expire next year and the first round of bids were submitted on November 18. The final phase of the auction process is expected to be concluded by January 17.

Indian iron ore supply is expected to fall somewhere between 20 million tonnes and 60 million tonnes as a result of these developments, with a number of factors including, but not limited to, domestic demand, the ability...

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