Indonesia Approves RKAB for 63 Nickel Mines in Southeast Sulawesi

India's stainless steel scrap imports declined 6% YoY to 0.67 million tonnes in H1 2026 from 0.71 million tonnes a year earlier, driven by elevated landed costs and a sustained domestic scrap price advantage. Imported 304-grade scrap averaged US$1,410–1,450/t — approximately US$100–130/t above year-ago levels, with a net landed cost of approximately INR 148,000–149,000/t versus domestic 304 scrap at around INR 144,000/t, consistently favouring domestic procurement. By grade, 304 imports held steady at 0.26 mnt (+1% YoY), 430 rose to 0.068 mnt (+14%), and 316 declined to 0.06 mnt (-3%). By origin, the US remained the top supplier at 0.094 mnt (+4% YoY), followed by South Korea at 0.051 mnt (-6%) and Turkey at 0.023 mnt (-16%). Ferro nickel imports collapsed 62% YoY to 0.02 mnt, prompting mills to substitute nickel-bearing stainless scrap as an alternative nickel unit source and reinforcing domestic scrap preference. Looking ahead, JSL's capacity expansion will drive structural import demand through FY27–29, but near-term import recovery hinges on international price corrections and INR movement.

India has negotiated country-specific tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) of approximately 1.64 million tonnes of steel products under its free trade agreement with the European Union, providing Indian exporters with predictable market access as the EU tightens its steel import regime. The total allocation comprises 946,616 tonnes under the MFN component and 694,853 tonnes under the FTA component, covering a broad range of products including hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, metallic and organic coated steel, tin mill products, quarto plates, stainless steel products, bars, wire rods, and pipes and tubes. The negotiated quotas are significant given that the EU's new Steel Regulation, effective July 1, 2026, imposes a 50% out-of-quota duty on all steel imports, including from FTA partners. The agreement includes a mechanism protecting India from being disadvantaged should the EU extend more favourable quota access to other FTA partners, with quotas subject to review one year after entry into force and every five years thereafter.

According to European Commission data, several EU steel import quotas have been exhausted or are nearing their limits as the July 1–September 30 quota period draws to a close. In stainless steel, Category 9 (cold-rolled sheets and strips) saw Taiwan's 13,246mt quota at 90.96% utilization, while the "Other countries" quota of 8,442mt reached 99.48%, the highest utilization rate among stainless categories. Multiple other quotas have been fully exhausted, including India's organic coated sheets (54,334mt), Australia's HRC (11,830mt), China's merchant bars and light sections (39,484mt), Turkey's railway material and non-alloy wire, and Ukraine's hollow sections and other seamless pipes. Several "Other countries" and "FTA" category quotas have also been depleted. Imports beyond exhausted quotas face the 50% out-of-quota duty, and significant first-come-first-served competition is expected when new Q4 quotas open on October 1.