According to provisional customs data, India’s flat steel imports fell by 14% from 0.84 MnT in Jan’16 to 0.72 MnT in Feb’16. The reason being trade barriers such as safeguard duty and floor price being adopted by the Indian government.
HRC import fell by 41% from 0.34 MnT in Jan’16 to 0.20 MnT. After the safeguard duty announcement on HRC in Sep’15 its effect was seen in Nov’15 with fall in HRC import during the month as the lead time taken for imports to reach India ranges from 1.5-2 months.
However, as imported prices lowered down further, overseas buying increased once again and its effect was observed in the form of increased imports in Dec’15 and Jan’16.
Thus as a more stringent measure, government decided to impose MIP (Minimum Import Price) on steel imports. The speculations of MIP became strong in Dec’15 due to which Indian buyers restricted their import purchases during the month and its effect was seen as reduced imports in Feb’16.
Although HRC imports reduced considerably, CRC import registered an increase of 5% from 0.17 MnT in Jan’16 to 0.18 MnT in Feb’16. However it is anticipated that after MIP announcement in Feb’16, CRC imports will also fall in the coming months.
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