Weak rupee to make imports costly for metal firms, exports may get a push

A weak rupee will make imports of input materials more expensive for metal firms but better export realisations may cushion the impact to an extent.

Rupee depreciation has a three-way impact on the steel industry – imports of raw materials will become expensive but exports may get a push. Also, steel imports will be less competitive and act as a buffer to weakening domestic prices.

According to CRISIL Research, India imported close to 57-59 million tonnes of coking coal – a key input for steelmaking – worth Rs 1 trillion in fiscal 2022.

Prices of coking coal soared since Russia’s