The Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) has urged the Indian government to ban the export of steel for the next six months to save domestic steel industry, according to media reports.
There is an unprecedented increase in steel prices in the last few months which has hit many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) units across India.
In the last five months, steel prices have spiked from Rs42,000/mt to Rs65,000/mt for Cold-rolled coils (CRC) sheet, while hot-rolled coils (HRC) sheets have increased from Rs36,000/mt to Rs56,000/mt. Re-rolled steel and plastic has increased by Rs10,000/mt and Rs15,000/mt, respectively, in the same period.
CICU also said that many large steel rolling mills are preferring to export steel. Few mills booked around 10,000mt of HRC re-rolling grade of $735/mt FoB for January and February shipments for Europe. Meanwhile, another mill has booked 20,000 to 30,000mt HRC at $705-710/mt FoB to the Middle East.
These mills are earning foreign exchange by exporting steel products but it’s hampering export of finished goods which attract more value addition. Due to high raw material prices, MSMEs will be forced into closure, the industrial body said.
Steel prices ranges between Rs50,000-60,000/mt whereas goods manufactured such as auto parts, hand tools, bicycle parts and sewing machine parts are selling at around Rs200,000-350,000/mt and provides employment to millions in MSME across India, the association noted.