India’s Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) has announced that, according to November 2016 data, the revival in India’s engineering exports is being led by the iron and steel industry with a major pull factor arising from Nepal, Belgium, Spain and China, marking a renewal of demand for basic metals, a development which augurs well for the export sector.
According to the EEPC, the iron and steel industry which witnessed tough times in the previous several months is now seeing a reversal of fortunes at least in some of the key markets in Europe and India’s neighborhood. In November 2016, India’s steel shipments to Nepal increased by 285.5 percent to $39 million and steel shipments to Belgium went up by 211 percent to $52 million, both year on year. Meanwhile, in November India’s steel shipments to China totaled $41 million, increasing by 86 percent compared to the same month of 2015.
“We expect the upsurge in Indian engineering exports will likely continue in the rest of the financial year 2016-17 as the hardening of crude oil prices in the international market is not expected to see any reversal of trend at least in the near term. Other commodity prices have also been rising,” stated T S Bhasin, chairman of the EEPC.