Steel trade deficit widens to over ?11,500 crore as India continues to be net importer for April - Jan period

India’s steel trade deficit widened to over ?11,500 crore for April - January period, up 30 per cent in a one-month-period and 15 per cent on a y-o-y basis, as imports from China continued to surge, up 80 per cent-odd on a y-o-y basis a Steel Ministry report reviewed by businessline, said. 

The country was a net importer of steel for the period under review with 6.8 mt (up 35 per cent) coming in, as against export which stood at 5.5 mt (up 3.6 per cent).

As per the report, import of total finished steel was valued at ?56,461 crores ($6,822 million) whereas export of total finished steel was valued at ?44,898 crores ($5,425 million) for the April to January (10M FY24) period. In comparison, trade deficit for nine-months (April – Dec) stood at ?8,888 crore, with imports being valued at ?48,027 crore, whereas exports stood at ?39,139 crore.

In the year ago period (10-Months FY23), India despite being a net exporter of steel reported a trade deficit of ?10,071 crore. Imports stood at ?54,534 crore, whereas exports were valued at ?44,463 crore.