Alloy and stainless steel exports for the April to June period, or Q1FY23 have seen a 36 per cent jump, year-on-year, bucking the general trend of a dip in exports.
According to data compiled by the Union Ministry of Steel, sale/export of semi-finished alloy steel (which include boron steel offerings) saw a 430 per cent jump y-o-y to 12,000 tonnes in Q1FY23. For the month of June, the sales of semi-finished alloy steel was up 729 per cent over the same month last year.
Nearly 75 per cent of the exports (or 8,000 tonnes) of semi-finished alloy happened in June, data accessed by BusinessLine show. The shoot up in semi-finished alloy exports were noticed post the imposition of export duty on steel from May 21 onwards.
Exports of alloyed and stainless steel—across finished and semi-finished categories—were to the tune of 3,17,400 tonnes while steel exports for the period dipped by 39 per cent.
Incidentally alloyed steel or boron steel, as it is often called, has no export levy on it; and stainless steel has a 15 per cent duty imposition on it.
Electrical steel export
“It is to be noted that while all categories under flats recorded a fall, only electrical steel export skyrocketed by almost 700 per cent albeit on a low base,” a SteelMint report mentioned.
The report added that exports increased to 1,40,000 tonnes in Q1FY23 against 17,650 tonnes in Q1FY22. SteelMint’s data reveals that in April 2022, these were at a negligible 2,334 tonnes and in May, 2022, at 7,110 tonnes.
Under normal circumstances, electrical steel exports constitute barely 10,000 tonnes per month.
Major Markets
According to Ministry data, major markets that saw the export of alloy/stainless steel (which falls under the finished steel category) last quarter (Q1FY23) include European nations like Belgium (15,800 tonnes); Italy (44,300 tonnes); and Netherlands (14,400 tonnes).
Of the 22,600 tonnes of finished steel exported, nearly 64 per cent was alloy/stainless.
Among the Asian nations, Vietnam was one of the biggest buyers. Almost 50 per cent of finished steel export to the nation, or 62500 tonnes, were alloy/stainless steel. In case of Malaysia, nearly one third of the exports – or 11,600 tonnes – were alloy/stainless steel.
Other major markets included the West Asian markets of UAE, at 27,5000 tonnes; while the USA saw 29,200 tonnes (nearlu 60 per cent of total finished steel) of exports in the category.
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