Indian finished steel exports fall 25% in Aug '20 on domestic demand revival

India's finished steel exports reported a monthly decline of 25% to 1.039 mn t in Aug '20 against 1.37 mn t in the previous month, as per data released by Joint Plant committee data (JPC). Indian mills had lowered export allocations due to recovery in domestic demand. Mills have few backlog orders for exports of Aug shipments which they have deferred for Sep shipments and Sep to Oct shipments to cater domestic demand, SteelMint learned from its channels.

Meanwhile, Govt owned SAIL recorded a decline in its export volumes to 0.19 mn t in Aug'20 which was 0.31 mn t in the previous month. Another major steel producer, JSPL recorded export sales at 42% of the total sales volumes in Aug '20. "The company's steel export volumes have come down significantly with an increase in domestic sales post the lock-down period," shared by Mr. V R Sharma, MD JSPL said in a statement.

In Apr-Aug FY '21, total exports gained by 95% y-o-y to 5.68 mn t against 2.91 mn t in the corresponding period of the previous year. China and Southeast Asian countries have remained the preferred destination for exporters since Apr '20 with Indian offers being competitive against other exporting nations.

Finished steel imports down by 45% m-o-m in Aug '20

Finished steel imports down by 45% m-o-m to 0.16 mn t in Aug '20 against 0.293 mn t in the previous month. Meanwhile, it also fell by 81% y-o-y.

In Apr-Aug FY '21, imports declined by 52% to 1.66 mn t as compared to 3.45 mn t in a similar time frame of FY '20.

Crude steel production up by 5% in Aug '20

India's crude steel output increased by 5% m-o-m in Aug'20 to 8.493 mn t against 8.07 mn t in the previous month. Output fell by 4% compared with 8.86 mn t in Aug '19, according to provisional JPC (Joint plant committee) data.

During Apr-Aug FY '21, crude steel output was 33.55 mn t, down by 27% from 46.22 mn t in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Finished steel consumption increases by 8% in Aug '20

India's finished steel consumption gained by 8% m-o-m to 7.49 mn t in Aug '20 but declined by 18% y-o-y.

During Apr-Aug FY '21, consumption totalled to 26.40 mn t, down by 38% from 42.53 mnt in the CPLY.