Steel imports fell for the second month in May this fiscal declining by 41 per cent to 0.546 million tonnes (MT) compared to the same month of last year.
The imports were down 17 per cent compared to that in April 2016, the data by Steel Ministry's Joint Plant Committee (JPC) showed.
In April too, steel imports were down by 15.5 per cent year-on-year at 0.654 MT.
Steel imports are on a decline following a number of steps by the government to check cheap shipments of the commodity from countries like China amid demand slowdown.
The government in February imposed minimum import price restrictions on steel products to check inward shipments. Besides, it had imposed safeguard duties last year to check imports.
According to the data, export of total finished steel was up by 6 per cent to 0.38 MT over May 2015 and was higher by 23 per cent over April 2016.
Steel demand in May 2016 was higher by 4 per cent to 7.56 MT against May 2015 and was up by 31 per cent over April 2016.
In May 2016, total finished steel output was lower by 0.9 per cent to 8.28 MT compared to May 2015. In April-May, steel production grew by 2.4 per cent to 15.97 MT.
