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India's steel imports surged over 53 per cent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal indicating that domestic producers continue to face pressure from cheap inbound shipments from countries such as China, Japan and Korea.
Steel consumption however grew by 7.1 per cent to 20.10 million tonnes (MT) in the first quarter of 2015-16 helped by cheaper imports and increased production of saleable steel, shows the latest data by Joint Plant Committee (JPC), under the Steel Ministry.
Total finished steel imports grew 53.1 per cent to 2.545 MT in April-June as against the year-ago period. But imports in June 2015 were down 4.7 per cent at 0.873 MT from May. Compared to June last year, imports rose by 49.5 per cent.
In the fiscal 2014-15, imports grew 71 per cent to 9.32 MT compared to 2013-14, making India a net importer of the metal.
To check rising imports, the government last month raised basic customs duty (BCD) on some long and flat steel products by 2.5 per cent. Import duty on flat steel products was increased to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent, while for long steel products it was raised to 7.5 per cent from 5 per cent.
During June itself, India slapped anti-dumping duty of up to USD 316 per tonne on imports of certain steel products from three countries, including China, to protect domestic producers from below-cost inbound shipments.
On growth in consumption, JPC said: "Such growth stemmed both from rising production for sale (up by 2.8 per cent) and most importantly, imports (up by 53.1 per cent) during this period and in general, is in sync with the overall growth trends noticed in major macroeconomic parameters -- the IIP and the Core Sector Index."
Domestic steel consumption fell by 3.3 per cent in June this year to 7.175 MT against last month, but was up 6.6 per cent compared to June 2014, it added.
The export of total finished steel fell by 31.7 per cent in April-June 2015-16 to 0.991 MT against the year-ago period. Exports in June increased by 14.1 per cent to 0.32 MT compared to May 2015, but decreased by 25 per cent against June 2014.
Production for sale of total finished steel registered a growth of 2.8 per cent at 23.71 MT during April-June compared to the same period of last fiscal.
In the first quarter of 2015-16, crude steel production grew by only 0.9 per cent to 22.511 MT against the same quarter of 2014-15.
ISP Producers (SAIL, RINL, TSL, Essar, JSWL and JSPL) together produced 11.765 MT, while the rest -- 10.746 MT -- came from Other Producers.
Crude steel production by ISP Producers grew by 4.3 per cent compared to the same period of last year, but that by the Other Producers saw a decline of 2.7 per cent during the same period.
