India’s imports of finished steel hit a historic high in the first 10 months of fiscal year 25

According to India's temporary SA387 Grade 21 steel trade data, in the first 10 months of the 2024-25 fiscal year (April to January of the following year), India's total imports of finished steel products exceeded 8.3 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%, setting a new historical peak and once again becoming a net importer of steel.

Data shows that China, South Korea, and Japan SA387 Grade 21 steel continue to dominate India's imported steel market, accounting for a total of 78%. Among them, South Korea ranked first with an import volume of 2.4 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.7%; China followed closely, exporting 2.3 million tons of finished steel to India, a slight increase of 3.4% year-on-year; Japan achieved an explosive growth of 88.6% with a delivery volume of 1.8 million tons.

It is worth noting that Indonesia's steel exports to India have nearly tripled year-on-year to 300000 tons. Although the total amount is still at a low level, the penetration of emerging steel production capacity in Southeast Asia into the Indian market has begun to emerge.

From the perspective of imported categories, flat materials such as hot-rolled coils and strips dominate, confirming the sustained strong demand for infrastructure investment and automotive manufacturing in India; In the field of long materials, the import volume of bar and wire leads non flat steel products, pointing to the rigid demand for real estate and power infrastructure construction.

In sharp contrast to the hot import trend, India's export volume of finished steel products fell to the lowest level in nearly seven years during the same period. The traditional core market, Italy, has almost halved its shipment volume, and major export destinations such as Belgium, Nepal, and Spain have also experienced a decline.

Although some high-end steel SA387 Grade 21 steel products may find it difficult to reverse their dependence on imports in the short term due to record imports and a cold winter for exports, the proposed safeguard tariffs, if implemented, may gradually reduce imports in the medium term.