Latest news with #NehaArora
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-India moves to conserve its rare earths, seeks halt to Japan exports, sources say
By Neha Arora and Aditi Shah NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India has asked state-run miner IREL to suspend a 13-year-old agreement on rare earth exports to Japan and to safeguard supplies for domestic needs, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, aiming to reduce India's dependence on China. IREL also wants to develop India's capacity for rare earth processing, which is dominated globally by China and has become a weapon in escalating trade wars. China has curbed its rare earth materials exports since April, pressuring automakers and high-tech manufacturers worldwide. In a recent meeting with auto and other industry executives, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal asked IREL to stop its exports of rare earths, mainly neodymium, a key material used in magnets for electric vehicle motors, one of the sources said. The Commerce Ministry, IREL and the Department of Atomic Energy, which oversees IREL, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The sources declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Under a 2012 government agreement, IREL supplies rare earths to Toyotsu Rare Earths India, a unit of Japanese trading house Toyota Tsusho, which processes them for export to Japan where they are used to make magnets. In 2024, Toyotsu shipped more than 1,000 metric tons of rare earth materials to Japan, commercially available customs data showed. That is one-third of the 2,900 tons mined by IREL, although Japan relies mainly on China for its rare earths supply. Toyota Tsusho and Toyotsu did not immediately respond to requests for comment. IREL has been exporting rare earths due to a lack of domestic processing capacity, but following the recent disruptions to supplies of Chinese material it wants to keep its rare earths at home and expand domestic mining and processing, a second source said, adding that IREL is awaiting statutory clearances at four mines. However, India may not immediately be able to stop supplies to Japan because they fall under a bilateral government agreement, the person said. IREL wants this to be "amicably decided and negotiated because Japan is a friendly nation", the person added. Japan's Trade Ministry said in a statement to Reuters: "We would like to refrain from answering questions about bilateral exchanges in general, not just about this matter." EXPANSION PLANS China's recent export controls on rare earth materials have rocked the global auto industry, which has warned of supply chain disruptions and production halts. China also weaponised its supplies in 2010, when it briefly stopped shipments to Japan. That prompted the Japanese to turn to India for rare earths. India has the world's fifth-largest rare earth reserves, at 6.9 million metric tons, but there is no domestic magnet production. India relies on imported magnets, mainly from China. In the fiscal year to March 2025, India imported 53,748 metric tons of rare earth magnets, government data showed. These are used in automobiles, wind turbines, medical devices and other manufactured goods. Rare earth mining is restricted to IREL, which supplies India's Atomic Energy Department with materials for nuclear power projects and defence-related applications. India lacks wide-scale technology and infrastructure to mine rare earths, and the development of any commercially viable domestic supply chain is years away, analysts said. IREL has a rare earths extraction plant in the eastern Indian state of Odisha and a refining unit in Kerala, in southern India. The miner, founded in 1950, plans to produce 450 metric tons of extracted neodymium in the fiscal year to March 2026 with a plan to double that by 2030, the second person said. It is also looking for a corporate partner for the production of rare earth magnets for the auto and pharmaceutical industries, the person said. India is firming up plans for incentives to companies to set up rare earth processing and magnet production facilities to meet local demand, people familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India's Vedanta says Trump's tariffs damaging, seeks import curbs
By Neha Arora (Reuters) -Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's doubling of aluminium tariffs to 50% poses a threat to the Indian industry already struggling with surging imports. Trump's latest round of tariffs on aluminium and steel, which took effect on Wednesday, have unsettled the global markets. "The 50% tariff announced by Trump is damaging to the Indian aluminium industry, which is already under pressure from surging imports that threaten to create surplus and risk to domestic market access," a Vedanta spokesperson told Reuters. The miner, which is the country's largest aluminium producer, urged the Indian government to implement tariffs to protect against imports. "..There should be duty guard-rails for the aluminium industry as well which has so far invested more than $20 billion to set up the current domestic primary aluminium capacity," the spokesperson said. India's cumulative aluminum exports fell 19% to 2.24 million metric tons in the fiscal year ended March 2025, according to government data. Separately, the country's federal steel minister said earlier this week that the impact of Trump's steel tariffs would be minor on the local industry, as India, the world's second-largest crude steel producer, does not export to the U.S. in significant quantities. In April, India imposed a 12% temporary tariff on some steel imports, locally known as a safeguard duty, to curb a surge in cheap shipments primarily from China.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India's Vedanta says Trump's tariffs damaging, seeks import curbs
By Neha Arora (Reuters) -Indian metals-to-oil conglomerate Vedanta said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's doubling of aluminium tariffs to 50% poses a threat to the Indian industry already struggling with surging imports. Trump's latest round of tariffs on aluminium and steel, which took effect on Wednesday, have unsettled the global markets. "The 50% tariff announced by Trump is damaging to the Indian aluminium industry, which is already under pressure from surging imports that threaten to create surplus and risk to domestic market access," a Vedanta spokesperson told Reuters. The miner, which is the country's largest aluminium producer, urged the Indian government to implement tariffs to protect against imports. "..There should be duty guard-rails for the aluminium industry as well which has so far invested more than $20 billion to set up the current domestic primary aluminium capacity," the spokesperson said. India's cumulative aluminum exports fell 19% to 2.24 million metric tons in the fiscal year ended March 2025, according to government data. Separately, the country's federal steel minister said earlier this week that the impact of Trump's steel tariffs would be minor on the local industry, as India, the world's second-largest crude steel producer, does not export to the U.S. in significant quantities. In April, India imposed a 12% temporary tariff on some steel imports, locally known as a safeguard duty, to curb a surge in cheap shipments primarily from China.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India's finance ministry wants lower energy prices for green steel incentives, sources say
By Neha Arora NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's finance ministry wants green hydrogen prices to soften before deciding on financial support for production of steel using clean energy, two sources familiar with the matter said, as New Delhi seeks to control inflation and its expenditure. Indian steel producers have been asking for federal incentives as the nation considers mandating the use of a certain percentage of green steel in government projects. India, the world's biggest steel producer after China and a key green house gas emitter, has been working on a green steel policy to decarbonise production of the alloy. A delay in the launch of federal financial support could slow India's energy transition plans to meet 2070 net zero goal. The steel ministry is seeking incentives from the finance ministry for decarbonisation efforts. The finance ministry has argued that high green hydrogen costs would make use of green steel unviable and 'potentially inflationary', the sources told Reuters. The deliberations between the two ministries have been slowed, as the finance ministry has cautioned against a "hasty approach," one of the sources said, declining to be identified as discussions are not public. "Steel is an intermediate product and manufacturing green steel would be costly and there is a need to have a balanced approach between growth and sustainability," the source said, referring to the finance ministry's thinking. India's finance and steel ministries did not respond to Reuters' emails seeking comments. Currently, a majority of Indian steel mills depend on coal for their blast furnace operations. The steel ministry has touted the use of green hydrogen as an alternative but high costs are a deterrent. In December, India said steel produced with carbon dioxide emissions of less than 2.2 tonne per tonne of finished steel would be defined as "green steel". Steel producers in India, the world's fastest-growing major economy, generate 2.55 metric tons of carbon dioxide per ton of crude steel produced, 38% higher than the global average of 1.85 tons, according to Global Energy Monitor. Error al recuperar los datos Inicia sesión para acceder a tu cartera de valores Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's plan to hike steel tariffs to have 'minor' impact on India, says minister
By Neha Arora NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India estimates a "minor impact" from U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to increase tariffs on steel and aluminium products as the South Asian country exports low volumes to Washington, the federal steel minister said on Monday. Trump said last week he intends to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50% from 25% currently, spurring declines on Monday in steelmakers' stocks in South Korea and Vietnam - major Asian exporters to the U.S. Roughly a quarter of all steel used in the U.S. is imported, the bulk of it from neighbours Mexico and Canada or close allies in Asia and Europe such as Japan, South Korea and Germany. India ranks much lower. "Minor impact will be there... We are not exporting (to the U.S.) in a big way," steel minister HD Kumaraswamy told reporters at a press briefing in New Delhi. However, ratings agency Fitch said in March that Indian steelmakers and steel prices could be hit if countries with higher exposure to the U.S. redirect their shipments to New Delhi in search of more lenient markets for the alloy.
