NEW DELHI: India’s steel imports from China were “unfairly priced” and prolonged shipments could hurt investment plans of the domestic steel industry, the chief executive of Tata Steel told Reuters on Thursday (Nov 7).
“It’s not that Chinese steel is more competitive … they just are able to keep selling steel even at prices at which they lose money, which is obviously unfair competition,” said TV Narendran, chief executive officer and managing director at Tata Steel.
“If this continues for very long, it will have an impact on the investment plans that the steel industry is making,” he said.
Rapid economic growth and increased infrastructure spending have turned India into a global hotspot for steel demand growth, even as demand tapers in Europe and the US.
The country’s steel demand touched a seven-year high in the April to August period.
India, the world’s second-biggest crude steel producer, remained a net finished steel importer during April-August, with imports from China hitting a seven-year high.
Some Chinese steel was also coming to India from Southeast Asia, Narendran said.
The Indian government has initiated an anti-dumping probe on certain steel products imported from Vietnam.
The industry is seeking higher imports tariffs or safeguard measures to tackle rising imports, Narendran said.
Given the Chinese supplies, prices of flat products were likely to remain rangebound, he said.
Steel demand in India is expected to grow at 8 per cent – 9 per cent during 2024/25, Narendran said, driven by construction, automotives, railways and oil and gas.
Any tariff increases from Donald Trump, who has been elected as the next US president, were unlikely to have much impact on India because hardly any steel is exported to the US, Narendran said.
Separately, Tata Steel was not looking to acquire any coking coal assets overseas, Narendran said, adding that the company’s Indian operations largely met its requirements from Australia.
