Rising prices and shortages of steel in the domestic market are the primary cause of the fall in engineering product exports from India, the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) said in a statement on Thursday, November 19.
Seeking government intervention in stabilizing prices of steel products, particularly hot rolled coil (HRC), the EEPC said that engineering exports from the country in the April-October period this year declined by 14 percent to $44.43 billion from the corresponding period of the previous year, adding that the situation was still not “under control”.
The rise in freight rates has added headwinds for engineering product exporters, the EEPC said.
If exporters are to battle combined the negatives of rising steel prices and shortages of availability along with depressed demand in the key markets of the EU and US due to the second wave of the pandemic, India’s Ministry of Commerce would need to intervene and ensure steady supplies of key inputs like steel at competitive prices to export-oriented manufacturing, to reverse the declining trend in overseas shipments of merchandise exports, the EEPC said in the statement.