Posted on 10 Dec 2015
India’s steel imports slipped for the first time in the last eight months in November, thanks to the 20% safeguard duty imposed by the government on some steel products.
Steel shipments to India fell 6.9 percent to 764,000 metric tons in November from a year earlier, data released by the joint plant committee (JPC), an industry statistic division of the steel ministry. Imports climbed 34 percent to 7.45 million tons in the eight months through November.
Ashish Kejriwal, an analyst at Elara Securities (India) Ltd., told Bloomberg that this decline in imports could be ‘a one-off phenomenon. ‘ Kejriwal says imports are bound to rise further this month as domestic steel prices are still at a premium to global rates and imports may slow only if the premium halves to 1,000 rupees ($15) a ton.
Reports suggest that government may impose further restrictions to curb imports of cheaper supplies to give protection to the local industry.
EEPC India, formerly (Engineering Exports Pormotion Council), has complained that though it helped protect large steel players, the safeguard duty is a blow to small and medium entrprises(SME).
Steel is a sector gripped by a scary glut situation across the world. An aggressive selling at cheap prices undertaken by producers like China, Russia and Korea is proof of this surplus scare.
