Finished steel imports hit six-year high in April-December, up 20% YoY

India's finished steel imports hit at least a six-year high in the first nine months of the financial year that started in April 2024, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters on Monday. 

India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer, had turned a net importer of finished steel products in the previous financial year. The trend has since continued, with shipments from China touching a record high in April-November 2024. 

China's steel exports in 2024 hit their highest level since 2015 at 110.72 million tons, an annual increase of 22.7 per cent. 

India last month launched a probe to determine the need for imposition of a safeguard duty or a temporary tax to curtail unbridled steel imports. 

 

India imported 7.27 million metric tons of finished steel during April-December, up 20.3 per cent year-on-year, the provisional data showed. 

The country remained a net importer of finished steel during April-December, with exports slumping 24.6 per cent to an at least six-year low of 3.6 million metric tons, the data showed. 

The government will detail country-wise trade data later this month. 

Demand in Asia's third-largest economy has been robust from infrastructure and automotives, while it tapers off overseas.

Consumption of finished steel during April-December reached an at least six-year high of 111.25 million tons, up 11.2 per cent from the previous year, the data showed.  (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)