Indian steel export dependency on China is abating as alternative markets open up combined with rising domestic demand, data from Joint Plant Committee (JPC), under Ministry of Steel and sole compiler of industry data, shows.
According to JPC, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (April-June), the exports of semi-finished products from India has reached 2.3 million mt, surging sharply compared to last year owing to strong demand from China. But in April-May, the share of shipment of semis to China has been above 75 percent (the peak was at 84 percent in May), while in June and July, it declined to 46 percent and 56 percent respectively.
In the finished steel segment too, China’s share in total exports from India was down from 30 percent in April-June to 24 percent in July. The total exports of finished steel from India amounted to 3.3 million mt, 2.4 million mt of which were HRC shipments.
Forecasting the steady fall in Indian steel exports to China, V R Sharma, managing director of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), said that China accounted for 30 percent of the company’s exports in August, but in September it will be zero as customers in China stopped accepting higher prices.
As SteelOrbis reported earlier, Indian steel mills found new markets in West Africa, focused on sales to other Asian countries like Vietnam and Taiwan, and even demand for Indian steel in the EU has started to revive.
According to financial services and rating agency ICRA, domestic steel demand has increased 10 percent month-on-month, indicating gradual revival in the market and with export and domestic prices being the same, producers will prefer to sell at home, ICRA said.