India’s finished steel imports from Russia reached a four-year high in April-October, according to the data compiled by the news agency Reuters. India imported a record 149,000 tonnes of finished steel in the first seven months of the current fiscal year that began in April. While imports in the same period last year were just around 34,000 tonnes. This is being considered a sign of Russia’s bid to divert shipments in the wake of Western sanctions.
India imported 32 lakh tonnes of finished steel during the April-October period. This is 14.5 per cent higher than last year. South Korea was the country’s largest steel exporter, accounting for 41 per cent of total purchases. South Korea exported 13 Lakh tonnes of finished steel to India.
Russian shipments accounted for just about 5 per cent of India's total steel imports. Although this put Russia among the top five steel exporters to India.
India’s largest steelmaker by capacity, JSW Steel Ltd said that in the current fiscal year, they received six to seven Russian steel shipments, the report said.
Indian firms also import a large amount of coking coal from Russia. So far, Indian steelmakers have imported a record 50 to 60 lakh tonnes of Russian coking coal in this financial year, compared with less than 20 lakh tonnes last year.
Although the overall shipments halved due to export tax and a global demand slowdown, India remained a net exporter of steel between April and October. In May, the government raised export taxes by 15 per cent on eight steel intermediates. Six months after the imposition the tax was removed with effect from November 19, 2022. Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste said that duty-related measures taken by the government will boost the business sentiments of the domestic steel industry.