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Print[Ferro-Alloys.com] India's finished steel imports could rise to around 8 million tonnes in 2012/13, a top industry executive said, up about 18 percent, as a lack of domestic supplies means India bucks a global trend of weak demand for the construction material.
Imports have already soared 53 percent in April to July as local steelmakers, scrambling for raw materials like iron ore due to environmental and legal delays, run below capacity and are unable to meet demand in Asia's third-largest economy.
India's Goa state temporarily halted iron ore mining from Tuesday to check if operations were legal, a move that could further dent domestic supplies.
India's appetite is in sharp contrast to economies from Europe to China, which are reeling from weak demand due to slower economic activity. China's largest listed steelmaker Baosteel has cut prices three months in a row before holding them steady for October.
"This (fiscal) year, I think we are looking at around 8 million tonnes of imports into India, which is about 10 percent of our (India's) demand," Sajjan Jindal, chairman and managing director of JSW Steel Ltd, India's third-largest steelmaker, told Reuters.
In the financial year ending March 31, 2012, India imported 6.8 million tonnes of finished steel, marginally higher than 6.7 million tonnes in the previous year.
China is the top exporter of steel to India followed by South Korea and Japan. Traders expect shipments from the latter two to raise at faster rates due to advantageous trade arrangements.
Steel shipments from China attract 7.5 percent duty whereas for Japan and Korea it is o nly about 4 percent.
"There is a more than 300 percent increase in imports (from Japan and South Korea). So, the government has to sit back and take a look at it," said Jindal from JSW Steel.
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