Steel imports down 28% in Sept

India imported 3.86 lakh tonne (provisional) steel in September, down 28.1 per cent year-on- year due to weak demand, according to mjunction services.
Steel imports in September last year stood at 5.37 lakh tonne, it said.
"The steel import has come down because there is a fall in demand," said Viresh Oberoi, CEO and MD, mjunction services Ltd, a JV between Tata Steel and SAIL.
Steel imports in August were 8.08 lakh tonne, an increase of 21.5 per cent over the same month in 2013, it said.
India imported 5.46 lakh tonne steel in July, compared to 5.05 lakh tonne a year ago.

In June the steel import was 5.87 lakh tonne while in the same month in 2013 it was 4.3 lakh tonne, it added.

The Steel Ministry had earlier said that it is watching the rising trend in steel imports for the last few months, mostly from China, and would review the situation next month to consider any suitable action.
"There had been 22-23 per cent rise in steel product imports during the April-August period over the corresponding period last year. We are watching the situation," the ministry had earlier said.
"If the trend continues, we may consider suggesting steps after review by October," it had said.

The industry has witnessed a sharp rise in steel rebars import from China as well as alloy steel. The possible step could be revising import duty.
If the current trend continues, India will import around 6 million tonne steel, as against 5 MT last year.
India's steel imports had declined by a whopping 31.3% last fiscal to 5.44 MT due to subdued economic growth and exchange rate volatility.