Engineering exporters have sought intervention of the government to check the spiralling prices of steel in the domestic market which is hampering exports.

“With a whopping 55 per cent rise in prices of steel, the mother raw material for manufacturing, the path to Atmanirbhar Bharat has become very tough and arduous,” the Engineering Export Promotion Council said in a release on Monday..

Wholesale price of Hot Rolled Coil (HRC) has gone up to ₹58,000 a tonne - an increase of 55 per cent between January 2020 and 2021--which was hard to absorb by the industry, the release said.

This was a double whammy for exporters of engineering products as they have anyway been battling the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 on global trade.

Also read: Rising steel prices hit engineering exports: EEPC India

“Under these circumstances, an unprecedented increase in steel prices is making the situation for the engineering industry unbearable, hitting exports the most,” said EEPC Chairman Mahesh Desai.

In April-November 2020-21, engineering exports fell by 13.24 per cent to $43.9 billion from $50.5 billion during the same period in the previous financial year. As many as 29 out of 33 engineering panels exhibited a year-on-year decline in exports, the EEPC said. Likewise, only five out of top 25 countries recorded positive cumulative growth in engineering exports during April-November 2020 over April- November 2019.

Also read: India’s exports plunged 17.84% in April-November: Commerce Secretary

Steel manufacturers are indicating further rise in prices in the coming weeks and months, Desai said, adding that it could act as a dampener in the quest of `Atmanirbhar Bharat’ which is an aspirational mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Engineering exporters account for more than one-fourth of the country's total merchandise exports, and comprise mostly of MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) units, the EEPC stated.

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