India’s steel imports were up 2.6 percent at $8.8 billion in the first half of the FY25 from a year-ago period.
It is the changing nature of imports more than the rise that is troubling the industry, which is demanding higher tariffs and a safeguard duty on steel products amid dumping concerns. While China remains the biggest importer, it is the strides made by Vietnam and Indonesia that have caught the attention.
Chinese imports were up 23.3 percent, taking China’s share of India’s total steel imports to 16.1 percent from 13.4 percent in the previous year.
China is not alone. Japanese imports rose 51.6 percent in the first half of the fiscal from FY24.
Japanese companies have been making waves in the US as well, drawing the ire of president elect Donald Trump.
“I am totally against the once great and powerful US Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case, Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.
Japan has been a major contributor to India’s steel imports but Indonesia and Vietnam have emerged as prominent players.
Indonesia was the seventh-largest exporter of iron and steel to India until the pandemic. In the first half of FY25, it was the fourth-largest exporter.
Exports from the Southeast Asian nation to India have jumped 18.6 percent over the past year and now account for over a tenth of its imports.
Vietnam’s rise is more pronounced. Until two years ago, it was the 19th largest steel exporter to India. In H1FY24, it pipped the US, UK, UAE, Russia and Germany to become the fifth largest steel importer.
Exports from Vietnam have risen around 90 percent, as its share in India’s imports has doubled.