By Neha Arora
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – 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%.
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% year-on-year, the provisional data showed.
The country remained a net importer of finished steel during April-December, with exports slumping 24.6% 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% from the previous year, the data showed.
(Reporting by Neha Arora; Editing by Varun H K)
