Japan, Korea, Indonesia raise steel exports to India

South Korea, Indonesia and Japan made up 70pc of India's total steel imports in August, according to steel ministry data, with Indonesia a major supplier of stainless steel to India over the past few months.

The three countries are able to sell lower-priced steel into India as they are exempt from basic customs duties of 10pc and 12.5pc on long and flat products, respectively, because of free-trade agreements. But anti-dumping duties on flat steel imports still apply to some Japanese and South Korean products.

South Korea was the largest steel exporter to India in August with 318,000t, a rise of 35pc on the year. Japan's steel exports to India soared by 43pc from a year earlier to 137,800t in August. Indonesia exported 143,000t of steel to India in August, from 20,000t a year earlier.

Most of these imports are likely stainless steel products. Indonesia exported 61,000t of stainless steel products to India during April-July, compared with a total 8,000t of stainless steel exports in the entire April 2018-March 2019 fiscal year.

India's commerce ministry on 7 April launched an anti-dumping duty investigation on imports of stainless steel flat-rolled products from 14 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. An oral hearing has been scheduled for 15 October.

Meanwhile, steel exports from China to India fell by 8.2pc to 129,100t in August.

India's total steel imports in August surged by 27.5pc to 856,000t.

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) was the highest-imported steel product from South Korea and Japan in April-July. South Korea shipped 379,000t of HRC to India, while Japan exported 223,000t during the four months. Japanese and South Korean carmakers based in India, as well as white goods companies, are usually the major buyers of steel from these countries.