China is flooding the world, especially India, with steel. As long as this lasts, the prices of locally produced steel will stay depressed
N.C. Mathur cut short his holiday in Himachal Pradesh because of the heat that the country’s stainless steel industry is facing. The president of the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association spent his vacation getting anxious calls from members worried over the sudden rise in the imports of utensil-grade steel from China. Since the beginning of 2010, the Chinese have been selling as much as 8,000 tonnes of stainless steel in the Indian market per month; a giant leap from last year’s average of 1,000 tonnes per month.
Thicker grade steel used for industrial purposes is largely protected with anti-dumping duties, but there is no such barrier for stainless steel less than 650 mm in thickness. The Chinese have targetted that segment forcing steel makers to try and lobby with the government for protection there too. “Our members from Rajasthan, Delhi, Kanpur and Chennai are alarmed and have been calling me continuously,” says Mathur.(This story appears in the 02 July, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)