Steel imports surge 69% in April-May on firm demand

Buoyed by firm demand from automobile, consumer durables and manufacturing space, Indian Steel imports surged by 68.47 percent to 1.528 million tonnes in April-May period of FY’13 as compared to 0.907 million tonnes in the same period last fiscal. The total imports in 2011 stood at 8.2 million tonnes.

Out of the total imports during first two month this fiscal, 1.329 million tonnes were of flat variety and the remaining 0.199 are non-flat products. Flat steels are used in consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods, while non-flat varieties find application in construction space.

Meanwhile, India’s production for sale of total finished steel registered a mere growth of 4.4 percent during the same period. The present domestic demand-supply mismatch reverses this year-on-year situation and leads to a heightened year-on-year rate of growth in imports.

The demand from sectors like motor vehicles, transport equipment, basic goods, consumer durables and manufacturing remained higher despite slowdown in domestic conditions in some of the end-use markets. Moreover, the price fluctuation is another critical factor influencing trends in imports with the relative strength in domestic prices vis-a-vis import prices, especially in an environment of fluctuating domestic currency.

China was the lead contributor comprising 30 percent of the total imports during April-May followed by South Korea (19 percent) and Japan (14 percent). Ukraine and Belgium are the other two prominent contributors.