India imposed a minimum import price on steel products to help stem a surge in cheaper shipments coming from overseas.
Minimum prices for inbound shipments range from $341 a metric ton to as much as $752 per ton across various grades of steel, the commerce ministry said in a statement Friday. The minimum prices, which would make hot-rolled coils from overseas 19 percent more expensive than the locally made product, will be valid for six months.
An economic slowdown in China, the biggest producer and consumer of metals, has hurt the global steel industry as the country exports its surplus amid weak domestic demand. Tata Steel Ltd., India's biggest maker of the alloy, posted a third-quarter loss last week, while JSW Steel Ltd. swung to a record quarterly loss. Japan's three biggest producers have all cut full-year profit forecasts due to deteriorating markets.
Steel exports from countries such as China, Russia, South Korea and Japan have surged to all-time highs on the back of lackluster domestic demand, excess capacity and currency competition, Tata Steel said.
Steel Secretary Aruna Sundararajan had said in December that India plans to increase measures to protect its debt-laden domestic steelmakers by imposing a minimum price on steel imports and studying loan restructuring.
Shares of Indian steelmakers gained Friday on expectation of the curbs.
SundayMonday Business on 02/07/2016