India’s finished steel exports rose to 9.492mn mt in the April-February period, up by 22pc from the prior year period, while imports dropped to 4.252mn mt, down by 33pc from a year ago, according to provisional official data.
Steel production in the April-February period fell by 8pc to 93.105mn mt, compared to 100mn mt in the prior year. Most major steel mills are operating at more than 90pc capacity in Q4 compared to lower production levels in Q1 and Q2.
In April-February, India’s Eastern region produce 40.343mn mt crude steel, followed by 27.478mn mt output in Western region, 19.039mn mt in Southern and 6.245mn mt in Northern region.
China was the leading export destination with imports of 2.053mn mt, followed by Vietnam 2.028mn mt, UAE 0.756mn mt, Italy 0.752mn mt and Nepal 0.681mn mt.
| India’s steel trade in April to February | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit: mn mt | Apr-Feb 21′ | Apr-Feb 20′ | Change YoY |
| Production | 93.105 | 100.786 | -8% |
| Exports | 9.492 | 7.783 | 22% |
| Imports | 4.252 | 6.392 | -33% |
Top finished steel exporter to India in the April-February period period was South Korea, followed by China and Japan. Indian finished steel imports from South Korea were 1.740mn mt, China 0.784mn mt and Japan 0.486mn mt.