Steel imports surge 58% in May, consumption up 6.8%

New Delhi: India’s steel imports surged 58 percent in May to about a million tonne, indicating tough times are here to stay for domestic producers facing price pressures and cheap imports from countries like China and Korea.[caption id=“attachment_2041107” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] On the other hand, what appears to be a silver lining for the industry, steel consumption grew 6.8 percent year-on-year to 7.23 million tonnes (MT) last month. In May 2015, steel imports stood at 0.91 MT, a rise of 58 percent, compared to April 2015 when they rose by 20.4 percent, as per data by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC), under the steel ministry. For the first two months of the 2015-16 fiscal, India was a net importer of steel with in-bound shipments growing by 54.5 percent to 1.67 MT, compared to April-May of 2014-15. Similarly, imports grew 71 percent to 9.32 MT in 2014-15 as compared to 2013-14, making India a net importer of steel. According to rating agency Moody’s, steel imports are not expected to come down in the current fiscal ending March 2016. Last week, India slapped anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel products from three countries, including China, to protect domestic producers, a development that is expected to help contain the rising imports of the metal. An investigation by Directorate General of Anti-Dumping Duty (DGAD) concluded that domestic industry suffered material injury, both by the volume and price effect. Another positive development is rising steel consumption, which has been registering a gradual increase and is expected to help shore up the top and bottom line of domestic firms. India’s consumption of total finished steel rose by 6.8 percent to 7.234 MT in May, 2015 against the year-ago period. It was up 31.3 percent against April, 2015, JPC data showed. Steel consumption saw a growth of 7 percent in April-May 2015-16 at 12.742 MT over same period of last year, it added. Similarly, consumption grew 3.1 percent in 2014-15 at 76.36 MT over the same period of 2013-14. According to industry body World Steel Association, steel consumption in India is expected to grow by 6.2 per cent to 80 MT in 2015 from 75.3 MT in 2014. Similarly, Moody’s expects consumption to rise on the back of an projected rise in sales of consumer vehicles. Besides, declining prices of iron ore and cooking coal as well as the government’s decision to resume mining will aid in reducing pressure on the companies, the agency said. PTI