New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- The steel ministry will discuss the reasons and remedies for unabated steel imports, which grew 24 per cent Y-o-Y in the first half of the current fiscal year, turning India into a net importer yet again, with industry representatives at its upcoming open house, scheduled for Wednesday.
India's steel imports during the April-September period of the current fiscal year stood at 4.14 million tonnes (MT) compared with its exports of 3.55 MT.
The rise in imports, despite various restrictions already in place,concerns the industry. Beyond reining in pricing power, these imports also strain capacity utilisation and their long-term capital expenditure plans.
Most of these imports are from China and Korea, which together accounted for 63 per cent of the total during the reporting period.
Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam contributed 13.5 per cent, 6.7 per cent, and 4.4 per cent to imports, respectively.
HR Coil accounted for 35.6 per cent of imports, followed by CR Coil at 18.9 per cent, GP/GC sheets/coils at 16.2 per cent, plates at 8.2 per cent and electrical sheets at 7.2 per cent.
While deliberating on steel import issues with the ministry, industry captains might ask the ministry to further tighten import flows through both tariff and non-tariff measures. Consuming industries, however, will push for the status quo if reducing import tariffs is not feasible at this point.
Meanwhile, India has set an ambitious target of 45 MT exports by 2047. Industry experts believe the target is achievable "mathematically", but India needs to close the quality and competitiveness gap to market its products worldwide.
"45 MT by 2047 is a stretch target. India's exports would have to grow roughly sixfold in two decades, while major markets raise carbon and quota barriers. Capacity alone won't deliver that. It will take low-carbon production, higher-value products and a wider set of destination markets.The question is whether India can sell it competitively in markets that price carbon and protect their own mills," said Vinay Tiwari, an executive at a European steel plant owned by an Indian group.
Hridaya Mohan, Former Executive Director, SAIL, said, "India's target of 45 MT of steel exports by 2047 is ambitious but not impossible. Reaching the target will require competitive prices, consistent quality, reliable delivery and specialised grades. Capacity alone does not guarantee export success. India must earn export markets through competitiveness and cleaner production, not rely on exports to absorb surplus capacity."
Former RINL Executive K Bangar Raju said imports exceeded exports in the first half of the current fiscal year largely because of massive inflows of competitively priced steel from countries like China, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, where excess capacity relentlessly pushesdown global prices.
"To reverse this, Indian steelmakers must move rapidly up the value chain, shifting towards high-grade and specialised steels required for automotive, defence, and clean energy sectors," Raju said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.