India's iron ore imports hit a six-year high this year as steel mills stepped up overseas purchases to overcome shortages of high-grade ore and take advantage of lower global prices for the steelmaking raw material, analysts and trade officials said.
Iron ore imports more than doubled to over 10 million metric tons in the first 10 months of 2025 from a year earlier, Lalit Ladkat, senior analyst at London-headquartered CRU Group, told Reuters.
Between January and October, JSW Steel, the country's biggest steelmaker by capacity, emerged as the top buyer of iron ore from overseas suppliers, analysts and officials said.
Average imports during 2019–2024 were 4.3 million metric tons a year, Ladkat said.
