India’s iron ore pellet makers have urged the government to curb a surge in imports routed through Oman, which they say originate from Iran despite U.S. sanctions, warning that the cheaper supplies could hurt the local industry, sources and an analyst said.
India, the world’s third-largest iron ore producer, has imported 800,000 tons of pellets so far this year, whereas imports were negligible between 2021 and 2024, Lalit Ladkat, an analyst with London-based CRU Group said.
Most of these pellets are of Iranian origin and shipped via Oman to circumvent sanctions, Ladkat said.
The surge in imports is driven by higher domestic prices of pellets and the availability of cheaper, high-quality Iranian pellets, Ladkat said.
India’s Ministry of Steel has received a petition from domestic pellet manufacturers and is examining the issue, said one of the sources involved in the matter.
In its letter to the ministry, the Pellet Manufacturers Association of India (PMAI) said: Even though pellet imports were shown to originate from Oman, there were doubts on the actual country of manufacture/origin as it is understood that this country does not produce pellets.
Rising imports have caused domestic pellet producers to operate at just 69pct of capacity, PMAI said.
In 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Iran, targeting the country’s export revenues from its industrial metals sector.
