India: Steel billets export shipments largely stable, m-o-m, in Apr'22

India's steel billets export shipments remained largely stable in April 2022. The volumes stood at 0.33 million tonnes (mnt) last month as against 0.34 mnt in March, as per customs data collated by SteelMint.

Export shipments in April are possibly the late deliveries of the previously concluded tenders which kept the volumes largely stable, SteelMint analysed.

Kenya top importer

Kenya emerged as the leading importer of steel billets from India at 0.16 mnt in April. Exports to Kenya witnessed a significant rise of 128% m-o-m as compared to 0.07 mnt in March.

Nepal was the second top importer with 0.06 mnt in the month under review followed by Italy with just 0.02 mnt. Export volumes to Nepal increased by 20% in April.

Exports down in Jan-Apr'22

Exports of the material from India in January-April 2022 stood at 1.08 mnt, a sharp y-o-y fall of 40% compared to 1.81 mnt.

Outlook

Iran mills' lower tariff rates for billets and China procuring material from Russia at comparatively cheaper offers may impact Chinese demand from India, thus, limiting export allocations of billets from India in the short term.