Indian steel secretary Mr. RS Pandey has declared that, after being a net exporter of steel in the last four years, India is on its way to becoming a net importer of steel in the current fiscal year.
During the April-October 2007 period, the country imported 3.6 million metric tons of steel, up 79 percent as compared to the two million metric tons imported during the corresponding period of 2006. Around 60 percent of the total steel import figure was accounted for by China, Malaysia and Thailand.
With regard to exports, India exported 2.9 million metric tons of steel during April-October 2007, while the figure was four million metric tons during the same period four years ago.