India’s Top Iron Mining State to Hold Production Levels in Spite of Mine Closures

Reuters reported that although appropriately half of the iron mines in India’s Odisha were ordered to be closed two weeks ago, the state is fast-tracking licence renewals. According to Reuters, mines director for Odisha, Deepak Kumar Mohanty, said that there would only be a brief stoppage of operations for the affected mines.

As quoted in the publication:

The court had asked Odisha to decide on the renewals within six months, but the state has already allowed eight mines belonging to Tata Steel (TISC.NS), Steel Authority of India (SAIL.NS) and Odisha Mining Corp (OMC) to resume operations, Odisha’s mines director Deepak Kumar Mohanty told Reuters.

Fearing a prolonged shutdown as in some other states, some steelmakers such as JSW Steel (JSTL.NS) have bought low-quality iron ore from Goa, which usually exports most of its output to China, while others had considered imports to maintain supplies.

Click here to read the full Reuters article.