India's finished steel exports plunge 70% m-o-m in Sep'23: JPC data

India's finished steel exports plunged 69.3% m-o-m to 0.157 million tonnes (mnt) in September 2023 compared with 0.512 mnt in August. Exports declined by 72.8% y-o-y against 0.577 mnt in September 2022, as per provisional data released by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) under the Ministry of Steel.

In September, Indian steel mills prioritised the domestic market over exports due to higher domestic prices. They stopped exporting HRC to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where they face competition from China and Japan, whose prices and quality are competitive. Preference for domestic HRC and lower realisations kept Indian mills away from offering to Vietnam. Also, the European market preferred to buy from the domestic market as the prices were lower, while waiting for quota allotments for some products.

In April-September 2023, export volumes fell by 10.3% y-o-y to 3.232 mnt as against 3.601 mnt in the same period a year ago.

Finished steel imports fall m-o-m

India's finished steel imports fell by 28.1% m-o-m in September to 0.381 mnt in September as against 0.530 mnt in July. Imports declined by 23.7% against 0.499 mnt in September 2022.

In April-September 2023, imports increased by 13.3% y-o-y to 2.899 mnt against 2.558 mnt in the same period last year.

Crude steel production inches down

Crude steel production by Indian mills inched down by 3.6% m-o-m at 11.482 mnt in September as against 11.904 mnt in August. However, production increased by 16.7% y-o-y compared to 9.839 mnt in September 2022.

In April-September 2023, crude steel output was up by 14.1% y-o-y to 69.652 mnt against 61.059 mnt in the same period last year.

Finished steel production stable

During September India's finished steel production remained stable at 10.930 mnt, remaining unchanged compared to 10.941 mnt in August. Meanwhile, production rose by 12.6% y-o-y compared to 9.707 mnt in September 2022.

Finished steel production rose by 13.3% y-o-y to 66.102 mnt in the April-September 2023 period as against 58.364 mnt in the same period last year.

Finished steel consumption rises

India's finished steel consumption stood at 11.169 mnt in September. Consumption edged up by 1.6% m-o-m as against 10.995 mnt in September. Moreover, consumption rose by about 17.9% y-o-y compared with 9.471 mnt in September 2022.

Finished steel consumption increased by 14.8% y-o-y to 63.987 mnt in April-September if this fiscal as against 55.751 mnt in the same period last year.