Metal and Mining Sector (INDIA)

Metal and Mining

India was the third largest producer of coal and fourth largest producer of iron ore in FY20. Chile is the clear leader among the world's largest copper producing countries, with 5.7 million tonnes of the metal mined in 2020.

 

The metals and mining sector is the industry dedicated to the location and extraction of metal and mineral reserves around the world. Metals include precious metals such as gold, platinum, and silver while industrial metals include steel, copper, and aluminum.

 

The most abundant rare earth elements are cerium, yttrium, lanthanum and neodymium. They have average crustal abundances that are similar to commonly used industrial metals such as chromium, nickel, zinc, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and lead. Again, they are rarely found in extractable concentrations.

 

India holds a fair advantage in production and conversion costs in steel and alumina. Its strategic location enables export opportunities to develop as well as fast-developing Asian markets.

 

Mining adversely affects the environment by inducing loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, and contamination of surface water, groundwater, and soil. Mining can also trigger the formation of sinkholes.

 

The Bayan Obo mine located in the Inner Mongolia region of China is the world's biggest rare earth element (REE) mine both by recoverable reserves and production. It accounts for more than 40% of the total known REE reserves in the world and nearly half of the global rare earth production.

 

As of FY21, the number of reporting mines in India were estimated at 1,229, of which reporting mines for metallic minerals were estimated at 545 and non-metallic minerals at 684.

 

Rise in infrastructure development and automotive production are driving growth. Power and cement industries are also aiding growth for the sector. Demand for iron and steel is set to continue given the strong growth expectations for the residential and commercial building industry.

 

Coal production in the country stood at 715.95 million tonnes (MT) in FY21.

 

Iron ore production in the country stood at 189 million tonnes in FY21.

 

In FY20, India had a total number of 914 steel plants producing crude steel. In FY21, India’s crude steel production stood at 102.49 million tonnes.

 

Production of aluminium stood at 3.65 MT in FY20. In value terms, aluminium export from the country stood at US$ 20.18 million in FY20. 

 

In May 2021, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) signed a contract with Total (a France-based energy company) for supply of up to 500,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year until 2026.

 

To improve its business operations amid the pandemic, in May 2021, companies such as Vedanta Aluminium and Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) leveraged smart technologies—such as digital smelter solution for human-less monitoring of operations, advanced data analytics for predictive and prescriptive analytics, vision analytics for identification of hot spots in ICTs network to improve asset reliability—to boost production.

 

In April 2021, Vedanta Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with research institutes in India for exploring ways to create value from bauxite residue for further usage in the company’s downstream segment.

 

In April 2021, National Aluminium Company Ltd. was granted the mining lease of Utkal-E coal block in Odisha.

 

In April 2021, Coal India Ltd. (CIL) announced the incorporation of two wholly owned subsidiaries —CIL Solar PV Ltd and CIL Navikarniya Urja Ltd.

 

In March 2021, Coal India Ltd. (CIL) approved 32 new coal mining projects, of which 24 are expansion of the existing projects and the remaining are greenfield. Estimated cost of the project is Rs. 47,000 crore.

In 2021, state-owned NMDC aims to utilise 97% production capacity to manufacture 35 MT of iron ore. In FY21 (until January 2021), NMDC’s iron ore production stood MT.

 

In February 2021, ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel India, in agreement with the Odisha government, has planned to set up an integrated steel plant (with 12 MT capacity) in the state’s Kendrapada district for Rs. 50,000 crore.

In February 2021, two new iron ore mines were inaugurated in Odisha, with a production capacity of 15 lakh tonnes per month and 275 million tonnes of consolidated iron ore reserves. These mines will bring in Rs. 5000 crore in annual revenue for the state and employment opportunities for locals.

In February 2021, CIL signed a contract with Belaz, a Belarus-based mining equipment manufacturer, for procurement of dumpers with an investment amount worth Rs. 2,900 crore.

 

In February 2021, CIL also announced plans to invest Rs. 1.43 lakh crore in 20 sir projects, including solar, thermal and aluminum projects.

 

In April 2021, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) notified that the import policy for copper and aluminium is amended from “free” to “free with compulsory registration” under the non-ferrous metal import monitoring system (NFMIMS). The policy is effective from April 12, 2021.

 

To increase availability of iron ore in India, the government took several initiatives, such as ‘Mining and Mineral Policy’ reforms, to ramp up production and maximum capacity utilisation by government mining companies. For example, SAIL, with the approval to sell 25% fresh fines and 70 MT dumps and tailings, accelerated sale of iron ore.

 

In Union Budget 2021, the government reduced customs duty to 7.5% on semis, flat and long products of non-alloy, alloy and stainless steels to provide relief to MSMEs.

 

To boost recycling of copper in India, the government announced reduction of import duty on copper scrap from 5% to 2.5% in the Union Budget 2021.

 

The National Steel Policy aims to boost per capita steel consumption to 160 kgs by 2030-31. The government has a fixed objective of increasing rural consumption of steel from the current 19.6 kgs per capita to 38 kgs per capita by 2030-31.

 

There is a significant scope for new mining capacities in iron ore, bauxite and coal and considerable opportunities for future discoveries of sub-surface deposits.

Infrastructure projects continue to provide lucrative business opportunities for steel, zinc, and aluminium producers.

 

Iron and steel make up a core component for the real estate sector. Demand for these metals is set to continue given strong growth expectations for the residential and commercial building industry.

 

The PSR report further illustrates the adverse effects of the mining of coal on the environment, water and human health. Coal mining leads U.S. industries in fatal injuries, and miners have suffered prolonged health issues, such as black lung disease, which causes permanent scarring of the lung tissues.

If you like the information. So tell us in comment section and follow the page so that you can get the information of the posts first.