India is monitoring steel imports after shipments from China touched a five-year high in the first four months of the fiscal year that began in April, the country’s steel secretary told Reuters on Monday.
During April-July, China was the second-biggest steel exporter to India, after South Korea, selling 0.6 million metric tons, up 62% from the same period a year earlier.
“We are monitoring the situation on imports and we have apprised the commerce ministry,” Nagendra Nath Sinha, the steel secretary, told Reuters.
Separately, a senior official in the ministry said some exporters had sold their surplus into the local market due to subdued demand overseas, contributing to a fall in prices domestically.
India, the world’s second-biggest crude steel producer, exported 2.6 million metric tons of the alloy during April-July, down 0.3% on year. The country, however, was a net exporter of finished steel.