What explains this rapid progress in iron ore prices?

Supply drought from India is one important reason why spot ore prices climbed so strongly in December after sinking to a 3-year low in September

In an otherwise instructive guidance for all steel stakeholders, global rating agency Fitch Ratings in its ‘2013 outlook steel raw materials producers’ report says India stands the risks becoming a net importer of iron ore in 2013-14. This, by any yardstick, is a far-fetched observation. Federation of Indian Mineral Industries president H C Daga, a no-taker of a possibility of this kind, says, “The ore supply situation has become tight in the wake of a ban on mining in Karnataka and Goa.