Steel imports grew 25% in April-August this fiscal

The Dollar Business Bureau

India’s stainless steel imports grew 25% in the first five month of the current fiscal to 2.3 lakh tonnes, steel industry body Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA) said.

The inbound shipments of the metal, mainly used for preparing kitchen appliances and utensils, stood at 1.84 MT in the corresponding period of 2015-16, the data showed.

The Indian steel industry has registered a constant rise in the metal imports value for over the last few years. In the financial year 2015-16, the imports of stainless steel flat product grew 24% to 5.32 lakh tonnes in 2015-16 from 4.28 lakh tonnes in 2014-15. The 2015-16 imports accounted for 25% of the total domestic demand of around 24 lakh tonnes.

ISSDA has regularly approached the government to put a curb on the rising imports of cheap steel from China and various other countries.
"The stainless steel imports have reached at a distressing stage now, if remedial policy actions are not implemented right away by the government, the already ailing domestic industry will perish," ISSDA President K K Pahuja told PTI.

Steel imports accounts for over 25% of the overall share in the domestic market. The 7.5% basic customs duty and circumvention of anti-dumping duty have done little to curb import of the metal.

"The government must increase the basic customs duty on stainless steel products at par with carbon steel at 12.5% at least. In August this year alone, imports have hit a record around 70,000 tonnes, which is very concerning,” Pahuja said.

India produces nearly 30 lakh tonnes of stainless steel, mainly used in kitchen-related products, automobiles, buildings, engineering and railways.
Of the total imports in the last fiscal, 50% has come from China alone. Imports from the world’s largest producers of steel have grown more than two-fold to 2.77 lakh tonnes in 2015-16 from 1.13 lakh tonnes in 2013-14.