China denies "gobbling up" India's iron ore reserves

BEIJING: China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) has refuted reports of the country "gobbling up" India's iron ore reserves while keeping its ore reserves intact.

CISA has rejected assertions by Justice M B Shah Committee that it China gobbled up Indian ore, while "strategically stopped short of tapping its deposits of 200 billion tonnes".

The Committee which went into the issues relating to illegal mining in India reported recommended banning of export of Indian ore.

Qu Xiuli, a deputy secretary general of the CISA, told state-run daily 'Global Times' that China's imports of iron ore from India have been declining.

According to LGMT Research, a market consulting firm for the steel industry, Indian iron ore took up around 11 per cent of China's overall imports of iron ore in 2011, a decline from 15.6 per cent in 2010, the daily said.

Wang Guoqing, director of LGMT Research, said the decline was a result of hiked export duties imposed by India in recent years.

"It's not the right time for India to control its exports to China, because there is an oversupply of iron ore in the global market," Wang saod.

" Brazil's Vale, Australia's BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and FMG have all been expanding their production capacity," he said.