Indian mills look to export into China
The major target of the Indian flat steel producers Steel Authority of
India (SAIL),
Tata Steel and Essar Steel is the biggest steel consumer Chinese market, for certain. The frenzy demand in
China seems to be slowing down for the
construction sector, however the Indian mills, as per comments of the industry insiders, believe that the flat products as they are not sufficiently supplied in domestic market will still continue to come from
manufacturing industries such as
automotive and electronics. Consequently, these major Indian mills are looking for export opportunities of particularly value-added products into
China. Hot rolled coil exports by
SAIL into
China recorded 2002 amount to 150'000 tons. Even though it may slow down, demand from the
construction sector will not also completely stop as serious projects like the Olympics slated for 2008 and World Expo 2010 will have their impact on the demand. Indian mills see
China as their major export market for the time being as the country needs to annually import around 30 million tons of steel besides its
production. Chinese steel output amounted to 180 million tons in 2002. The steel
consumption in 2003 is expected to reach levels of 195 million tons this year.