The Indian Steel Industry Association has urged the government to double the basic duty on steel imports in the upcoming 2025/2026 budget. The association proposes increasing the basic duty to 15% from the current 7.5% in response to an oversupply of steel products and falling domestic prices.
India became a net importer of rolled steel in FY2023/2024 and the first nine months of FY2024/2025, with China, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam being the main suppliers. This situation has led the steel industry to seek protection for the domestic market, citing concerns about capacity expansion plans due to lower margins.
The industry hopes that government measures will stimulate demand, stabilize market imbalances, and support long-term growth. The Ministry of Steel has previously proposed a 25% safeguard duty on cheap imports, and the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has launched an investigation.
Steelmakers are waiting for the government's response, with Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and CEO of JSW Steel, indicating that the decision on safeguard duties will be announced by mid-February. Meanwhile, analysts at Ambit predict that the safeguard duty may be introduced in the September or December quarter of FY2025/2026.
India's imports of rolled products in April-December 2024 reached a six-year high of 7.27 million tons (+20.3% y/y), while exports of steel products fell by 24.6% y/y to 3.6 million tons.
