Potential for India Imports steel from Vietnam in 2023
Steel NewsDate: 26-06-2023 by: Ngoc Cam
According to a preliminary report, India's steel imports from Vietnam have increased more than 4 times in the fiscal year 2022/2023, mainly hot rolled coil and galvanized steel. India also switched from a net exporter to a net importer of steel in the fiscal year 2022/2023 (March 2022 – March 2023). India's steel demand is forecast to reach 11.3% in FY 2023 and keep on taking off in FY 2024. Vietnam is taking advantage of this great opportunity to boost steel exports to India.
1. India: Steel imports from Vietnam increased 4 times
India imported 5.59 million tons of finished steel products from April 2021 to February 2022, up 29.5% over the same period fiscal year 2021/2022. In which, hot rolled coil/strip was imported the most, accounting for 35% of total steel imports with 1.96 million tons. According to preliminary data of JPC, Vietnam is in the top 5 largest steel exporters to the Indian market, reaching 0.286 million tons, up more than 4 times over the same period in the financial year 2021/2022. The main product imported is hot rolled steel coil/strip (0.177 million tons). Moreover, the majority of India's imported galvanized sheet/corrugated iron also comes from Vietnam.
The reason for the significant increase in steel imports by India from Korea, Japan, Russia and Vietnam lately is due to the price of imported steel being much lower than that of domestic steel. Accordingly, the price of imported HRC steel for delivery at Mumbai port in February 2023 was at $596/ton. While the price of HRC steel of domestic manufacturers is 730 USD/ton.
2. India: 2024 steel demand forecasted to increase by 7-8%
In fiscal year 2022, India's steel demand increased by 11.5%. According to the well-known ICRA financial consulting firm, the country's demand for steel will continue to rise to 11.3% in the fiscal year 2023. This is a sign that the Indian government is accelerating the development of infrastructure facilities for economic growth. IARC also said that the Indian government is willing to increase investment spending by 37% compared to 2023. The country's steel demand in the financial year 2024 is expected to reach about 7-8% (instead of 6 - 7% compared to previous forecast).
The global steel price is likely to recover and remain more stable starting this year, according to the financial director of Tata Steel - the world's top 10 largest steel companies in 2022. It is forecasted that steel consumption in the Indian domestic market will increase again in the context of China reopening its economy, the European market gradually becoming more stable after more than a year of conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the America domestic market gradually improving.
India becomes a potential steel consumption market for Vietnamese steel and steel businesses as demand for steel continues to rise strongly. According to the latest data of the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA), India is currently the 3rd largest steel importer of Vietnam (accounting for 15% of total exports), just behind ASEAN 33% and the EU 19%)
3. India benefits from importing Vietnamese steel
According to a report by The Hindi Businessline, Vietnam's steel shipments to India in the hot rolled coil/strip categories increased by 300% to 0.29 million tons. Vietnam is gradually taking over for Taiwan and Indonesia as India's steel product supplier. About the domestic steel market, the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) announced that in February 2023, the situation of steel production and consumption has prospered and grown. In particular, finished steel production reached 2.35 million tons, up 21.91% compared to January 2023. It is fully capable of meeting the requirements for scale, quality, and standards for steel shipments to India with the current production capacity of large Vietnamese steel enterprises like Hoa Phat Group, Ton Hoa Sen, Ton Nam Kim, Ton Dong A,...
However, the process and procedures for exporting goods to India have never been straightforward when this country uses anti-dumping measures most often. India was responsible for 16.95 percent of the nearly 6,500 anti-dumping investigations that were launched worldwide, with 1,100 lawsuits. Currently, India applies 767 anti-dumping measures against goods imported from China, Korea, Taiwan, EU, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, USA,...
Vietnam is not in the top 10 countries most affected by India's anti-dumping measures. In addition, India has signed an FTA with ASEAN countries (AIFTA), helping Viet Nam enjoy many preferential import duty rates, contributing to bringing the price of imported steel into India much lower than that of other countries.
On June 23, 2020, the Indian Ministry of Finance also canceled the order to impose anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese aluminum-zinc alloy coated steel products, lowering the duty rate to 0%.
4. The most profitable solution to export steel from Vietnam
Indian importers can benefit from and own high-quality Vietnamese steel products at the best prices thanks to the 0% duty rate. MRS Steel is a business that helps you import a variety of steel products from Vietnam, sourcing and supporting the import to help you save time, money, and reduce the risk of theft and fraud. We are headquartered in Vietnam, a network connected with the largest domestic steel corporations to support export steel to many global markets such as the EU, US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Middle East, and Southeast Asia. If you have any questions or require additional information about the Vietnamese steel market, please contact MRS Steel via email at vanloc@mrssteel.com.vn for the best assistance from a team of experts.
