China managed to displace traditional sellers like Korea, while in
select categories of specialised steel, it even overtook Japan
Steel
shipments coming in from China for the April–October period of this fiscal
stood at 1.11 million tonnes, amongst the highest in six years, data from the
Steel Ministry, accessed by businessline showed. The
diversion of lower-priced offerings to trade, FMCG, and auto sectors, coupled
with poor demand in Europe and better acceptability in the domestic market, saw
imports from China zoom nearly 50 per cent on a year-on-year basis, making it
the largest seller of steel to India.
China managed to displace traditional sellers like Korea, while in
select categories of specialised steel, it even overtook Japan.
As per data collated by the Steel Ministry, Chinese imports were
at 0.75 million tonnes (mt) in the April–Oct period of FY23, while for earlier
years, it stood at 0.49 mt for 7M FY22 and 0.51 mt in 7M FY21. In the pre-Covid
years, shipments coming into India were at 0,88 mt in 7M FY20 and 0.95 mt in 7M
FY19, respectively.
In October 2023, Indian traders placed orders for close to 0.19 mt
of steel from China, making it one of the highest purchasing months.
“So the price of Chinese steel (benchmark hot rolled coil offerings) was among
the lowest in October, hovering between $564 per tonne and $581 per tonne range;
and started moving up from November onwards. October was the month when a major
chunk of these orders were placed,” a trader said.
Offers from China have now moved up to $604 per
tonne, which is still lower than the domestic HRC offering, which India’s primary
mills have priced at $659 per tonne (₹54,900 per tonne). The price of Chinese
offerings has significantly moved up in November – from $589 per tonne a week
ago – fuelling speculations of a production cut there.