According to report, India was managing to solve the steel imports rise problem in order to protect domestic industry and economy.

Since the US started section 232 duty on steel and aluminum, the most steel destination turned to India especially from China, Japan and South Korea. India was one of the most steel consumption country in the world.

Indian steel imports went down by 8.6% in the fiscal year 2017 and 8.2% in 2018 respectively because of the imposition of anti-dumping taxes. However, according to the latest data, in the first 5 months of fiscal year 2019, the steel imports have risen by 8.42% as the domestic steel price rose. Also, the country’s steel exports were down by 33% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 and steel imports rose by above 11%.

To prevent big steel imports entering the country, Indian steel mills must raise capacity utilization or lift up the supply. On the strong domestic demand, slow supply will take down the market share which resulted in losses.

The government tried to beat the situation and the domestic steelmakers were supported by depreciation of rupee and higher oil prices. The government might also plan to raise the duty by 15% to support the depreciation of the rupee. The currency has depreciated by 14% since the beginning of the year.

According to the forecasts of the World Steel Association, the steel growth rate in the world will be 2.6% and 1% in 2018 to 2019 respectively. Indian steel consumption was expect to rise to 123 million tons in 2019 and it might become the world’s second largest steel consumption country after China.