India's HRC imports increased by 38% in September

India’s hot rolled flat steel imports increased by 38% m-o-m in September to 481,863 tons, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase. Meanwhile, HRC exports dropped by 21% to 99,838 tons, keeping India a net importer of steel. India became a net importer in the fiscal year ending March 2024 and has remained so in FY2024-25.

Japan was the largest supplier to India in September, exporting 189,339 tons of hot-rolled flat steel (HRC), an increase of 151% from the previous month. Vietnam came in second, exporting 183,083 tons of HRC, an increase of 20%. South Korea came in third, supplying 72,494 tons of HRC, a decrease of 14.5%, while China, India’s fourth-largest supplier, exported 36,946 tons of HRC, an increase of 5%.

As imports continued to climb, Indian authorities called for increasing the basic customs duty to 15% to address the surge. From October 2023 to September 2024, India’s HRC imports reached 3.7 million tons, a 52.3% increase compared to the same period the previous year.