Rising imports from China threatens Indian steel industry

Author: Paul Ploumis
02 Apr 2015 Last updated at 06:08:43 GMT

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): According to Tata Steel India, increasing imports of steel from China poses big threat, not only to the company, but also to the entire steel industry in the country.

While declaring the production results of the company during FY ’15 the company management noted that the steel import from China has doubled over the past one year. The overall steel exports by China jumped to 92 MT during the year. The steel production costs have escalated during the year. The company had to close one of its largest mines in the country. As a result, it had to depend on imported iron ore to fill the gap. Rising raw material costs and loss in market share on account of cheaper imports from China have continued to worry the company during FY ’15.

Meantime, the steel industry representatives during their meeting with Union Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar expressed their willingness to make new investments in the sector in line with the ‘Make In India’ campaign initiated by the government. The delegation noted that capital expenditure to set up steel plants in India is relatively higher. But on the other hand, it may help to minimize the country’s dependence on imported steel. At the same time, it is likely to boost the country’s manufacturing output.

Tata Steel India operations reported hot metal production of 10.15 million tonnes during the financial year FY 15, 2.52% higher when compared with 9.90 million tonnes production in FY 14. The crude steel production too was marginally up by 1.85% at 9.32 million tonnes when matched with 9.15 million tonnes. The saleable steel production by the company edged higher by 1.6% from 8.93 million tonnes in FY 14 to 9.07 million tonnes in FY 15.