Imbalance in demand and supply rocks steel prices in India

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct. 11, 2012 - The first seven months of 2012 saw a rise in imported steel shipments from China, Japan and Korea into the country. The slowdown in Chinese steel demand created a problem of oversupply, which resulted in a decline in global steel prices.

The differential in domestic and global prices of steel triggered the steel imports, negatively affecting the domestic producers and bringing the domestic prices down.

Salient Points
•In fiscal      year 2012, the Indian steel industry recorded a production of around 74MT.      The total crude steel production grew by 4.4% y/y against FY11 figure.
•In FY12,      the consumption grew by 6.8% to around 71MT which was the second lowest      growth figure in the past 10 years.
•Indian finished steel exports grew by 11.1% in FY12. However, the total finished steel exports came down by 23% compared to the FY07 figure. India was a net exporter of steel till FY07. Since then, the total imports of steel have exceeded the total exports every year.
•Steel imports grew by 48.3% y/y in the first seven months of 2012 to touch the 4.7MT mark. Imports accounted for around 11% of the total steel consumption in the country during this period.

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