By Neha Arora and Manvi Pant
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s iron ore imports are expected to rise this year, driven by increased demand from JSW Steel, the country’s largest steelmaker by capacity, as falling global prices make overseas purchases more attractive, traders and analysts said.
“We expect this year’s iron ore imports to be around 8–10 million metric tons, largely by JSW Steel,” said Dhruv Goel, chief executive of commodities consultancy BigMint.
India’s iron ore imports totalled around 6 million tons last year, with JSW Steel accounting for most of them, Goel said.
A drop in global prices to below $90 per metric ton from over $110 last year is likely to support demand, he said.
JSW Steel meets its iron ore requirements through a combination of captive mines and external purchases.
It plans to add 1.5 million to 2 million tons of annual capacity at its Vijayanagar plant in the southern state of Karnataka during the current fiscal year to March 2026, according to Hui Ting Sim, assistant vice president at Moody’s Ratings in Singapore.
A separate plan to add 5 million tons per year at its Dolvi plant in the western state of Maharashtra is underway, Hui Ting said.
JSW Steel is in a quiet period ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement, a company spokesperson said in response to a Reuters request for comment.
India primarily imports iron ore from Australia and Brazil, although imports from Oman have surged this year.
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 cheaper supplies could harm the local industry, Reuters reported last week.
Rising steel consumption in India is likely to drive increased imports of iron ore.
“We estimate India steel production to grow by 8% this year to 162 million metric tons,” said Florence Sun, commodities strategist at Macquarie Group.
In India, the world’s second-largest crude steel producer, finished steel consumption reached 25.1 million tons between April and May, the first two months of the 2025-26 fiscal year, up 7.1% from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Neha Arora and Manvi Pant; Editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
