Indian steelmakers continue to insist on protection from steel imports

The Indian Steel Industry Association has called on the government to double the basic duty on steel imports in the upcoming 2025/2026 budget. This was reported by S&P Global with reference to a knowledgeable source.

The Indian government will release the budget on February 1.

The country’s industry association proposes to raise the basic duty on steel imports to 15% from 7.5% amid an oversupply of steel products in the country, which has led to an oversupply and lower domestic prices in recent months.

India became a net importer of rolled steel in FY2023/2024 and in the first nine months of FY2024/2025, with China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam being the main foreign suppliers.

This led the steel industry to call for protection of the domestic market. In particular, producers cite concerns about capacity expansion plans due to lower margins.

According to market participants, the influx of imports was not the only factor weighing on steel consumption in India due to the lack of sufficient infrastructure projects.

The industry hopes that government measures will stimulate demand, stabilize market imbalances, and support the sector’s long-term growth.

The Ministry of Steel, CNBC TV18 reminds, has previously proposed a 25% safeguard duty on cheap imports, and the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has launched an investigation.

Steelmakers believe they have strong arguments in favor of import protection and are waiting for the government’s response. In particular, Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and CEO of JSW Steel, said that the government will announce its decision on safeguard duties on steel by mid-February. Exporters and consumers were asked to submit their comments by January 22.

At the same time, Ambit, based on past trends, predicts that the safeguard duty may be introduced only in the September or December quarter of FY2025/2025.

As GMK Center reported earlier, India increased its imports of rolled products in April-December 2024 (9 months of FY2024/2025) to at least a six-year high of 7.27 million tons (+20.3% y/y). Exports of steel products from the country fell by 24.6% y/y – to 3.6 million tons in the period under review.