Steel imports fall for second month in Dec

Indian steel imports fell for a second month after the government imposed taxes and anti-dumping duties on some products to protect local mills from cheaper overseas supplies.

Inbound shipments dropped 1.4 per cent to 941,000 tonnes in December from a year ago, according to provisional data from the steel ministry. For the nine months through December, imports climbed 29 per cent to 8.39 million tonnes.

India plans to step up safeguards for its debt-laden steelmakers by imposing a minimum price on imports and studying loan restructuring, steel secretary Aruna Sundararajan said last month. China, world's biggest producer, is facing the slowest growth in a quarter century and its surfeit of steel is driving a surge in exports, forcing governments from India to the US to impose curbs to protect domestic mills.

India's latest measures include a 20 per cent import tax on hot-rolled coils for 200 days imposed in September, and anti- dumping duties on cold-rolled flat products of stainless steel for five years.

Steel output declined 1.4 per cent to 7.62 million tonnes in December from a year earlier, while consumption climbed 1.2 per cent to 6.93 million tonnes, according to the ministry. For the April-December period, production fell 1.4 percent to 68.04 million tonnes, while demand rose 4.7 per cent to 59.08 million tonnes.