India has opened an anti-dumping (AD) investigation into hot-rolled flat steel products originating in or exported from China, Japan and Russia.
The investigation was launched following an application by domestic producers JSW Steel, JSW Vijayanagar Metallics and Jindal Steel Odisha, a notification from the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) dated 25 June said. The producers claimed that import volumes from the three origins had increased sharply and were undercutting domestic prices.
The producers submitted prima facie evidence of dumping, which the DGTR found satisfactory. The agency will now investigate "the existence, degree, and effect of the dumping," the notice said.
Indian finished steel imports increased over 2023 and 2024 because of surplus supply and weak domestic demand in other major steel producing countries, particularly China. But imports fell in 2025 after India imposed safeguard duties on a provisional basis from April, followed by a three-year extension in December.
Inflows rebounded in April and May 2026 as a sharp rise in domestic steel prices opened arbitrage opportunities and pipe makers booked overseas material for re-export. China and Japan doubled their exports to India during this period.
The products under the current AD investigation fall under the HS codes 7208, 7211, 7225 and 7226, the DGTR notification said. The products are alloy or non-alloy steel of thickness up to 25mm and width up to 2100mm.
Steel imports under these HS codes stood at 4.7mn t, down 23pc on year, in 2025, with South Korea, China, Japan and Russia accounting for 89pc of the volumes, data from global trade tracker (GTT) show.
But in January-April 2026, inflows rose 4pc on year to 1.5mn t, according to GTT data.
The domestic producers who filed the application have proposed January-December 2025 as the investigation period, the DGTR said. The agency also plans to investigate injury to the domestic industry over the financial years ended March 2023, 2024 and 2025 as well as the investigation period.
India has strengthened trade barriers to limit inflows of cheaper seaborne steel and shield the domestic industry over the last year. Alongside safeguard measures, India also imposed AD duties on Vietnamese hot-rolled flat steel and on Chinese cold-rolled non-oriented steel imports. Earlier this week, India started an investigation into imports of cold-rolled grain-oriented electrical steel from multiple-countries.
The impact of the latest AD investigation on Indian coil prices is expected to be limited, though it could stoke some restocking interest. While imports will be increasingly unviable, seasonally weak demand during the monsoons coupled with rising local availability could keep hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices under pressure, market participants said.
The Argus weekly Indian domestic HRC assessment for 2.5-4.0mm material stood at 57,600 rupees/t ($610/t) ex-Mumbai, excluding goods and services tax on 19 June. Prices have retreated from a recent peak of Rs59,000/t reached at the start of April because of sluggish demand, though tighter supply owing to mill maintenance activity prevented a steeper decline.
But now most mills have finished maintenance work and JSW Steel has restarted its blast furnace in June after a prolonged shutdown for capacity upgradation, raising supply of HRC in the domestic market.
Some Indian steel consumers may continue importing under the advance authorization scheme which allows imports without duties or Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certifications if the goods are re-exported, a trader said. Chinese HRC was entering India primarily under the re-export policy, because of the absence of BIS certifications required for customs clearance.
But a major domestic steel mill, which regularly buys coils from Japan, could be impacted, industry participants said.
