India may ban steel exports

Following the introduction of its ban on cement exports which came into effect last Friday, India may impose restrictive measures on steel exports so as to bring domestic inflation under control.
 
The Indian Cabinet Committee on Prices is expected to meet this week to review prices of steel and is likely to consider banning steel exports, levying an ad-valorem duty on iron ore exports and also bringing down excise duty on steel to eight percent from the current 14 percent.
 
Only couple of weeks ago in an attempt to control domestic inflation and increase domestic steel supplies, the Indian government suspended subsidies for steel exports under the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme.
 
If the Indian government goes ahead with the steel export ban, the world steel market may lack about four-to-five million metric tons of steel a year which are currently supplied from India.
 
Whether the government will ban the export of all steel products or just selected ones is yet to be determined.