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Jindal Steel Expects Indian Exports to Jump on China Curbs

Indian mills are poised to gain from China’s restrictions on steel output, according to Jindal Steel & Power.

Jindal Steel Expects Indian Exports to Jump on China Curbs
Reinforcing steel bars and a concrete mixer truck at a flyover construction site in Patna, Bihar, India. (Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg)

Indian mills are poised to gain from China’s restrictions on steel output, with interest rising in semi-finished products, according to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.

“China has decided not to melt too much of iron ore or use it in their blast furnaces and to import more of semis,” Managing Director V.R. Sharma said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “So we are getting more and more inquiries for billets, blooms, pig iron and direct-reduced iron from China.” 

Jindal Steel Expects Indian Exports to Jump on China Curbs

China’s steel output last month plunged to the lowest since March 2020, when output collapsed due to the onset of the pandemic. The world’s biggest steelmaker is intensifying production curbs to meet a target for lower volumes this year as it works toward a target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. More recently, restrictions have focused on improving air quality for the Winter Olympics next year.

That along with higher prices and limited scope to boost exports by other producers may boost India’s overseas sales of steel products to 15 million tons in the year ending March and to 20 million tons the following year, he said. Exports rose to 10.8 million tons last year.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.