Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

SPOTLIGHT: Indian flat steel mills focus on domestic market as Gulf demand dips

February 08, 2012 - 08:42 GMT Location: Dubai

KEYWORDS: India , mills , steel , imports , exports , GCC , rupee , dollar

Major Indian mills have largely been shying away from flat steel sales to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations in recent months as strong domestic demand runs parallel with only modest consumption in the six-nation group.

Producers such as Jindal Steel and Steel Association of India Ltd (Sail) say there has been a reduction in imports to GCC nations such as Dubai as a buoyant home market and a stronger currency provide more instant returns. “We usually export products such as rebar and wire rod, though we have not really been focusing on Dubai as there has not been so much demand,” a source at Jindal Steel’s export department said. “Actually, we don’t really see anyone exporting out of India; we are not exporting long products,” he added. A strengthening rupee, up about 7% against the dollar since the start of the year to 49.34 rupees on February...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

Please log in using your online subscriber details.
Your username will be your registered email address with Metal Bulletin.

If you aren't a subscriber yet, feel free to take a seven day free trial, or subscribe using the instructions below.

A standard subscription include one year's worth of news and prices. You can also upgrade to the full archive and benefit from more than 13 years of intelligence. Start your subscription today.

Free trial

Taking a free trial will give you open access to Metal Bulletin online news, prices, archived content and email alert service for the next seven days. Start your free trial today.

Free trial

Already have an account?

Carbon Steel Flat Products

May 24, 2012 15:35 Chinese HRC export prices fall further
May 24, 2012 12:50 Severstal sees Russia export prices drop on weak Europe demand, lower costs
May 24, 2012 11:01 CHINA STEEL WRAP: Spot rebar prices down on market weakness
May 24, 2012 11:00 Severstal North America sales up 23% in Q1
May 24, 2012 00:46 US steel imports log year-over-year climb

Comment & analysis

EXPERT VIEW FROM ERNST & YOUNG: Horror week favours the brave

Seven days is a long time in the investment world, but last week must have felt longer than most.
COMMENT: When super-cycle poster child BHP Billiton trims its plans...

BHP Billiton is one of the poster children for the commodities super-cycle: a mining company whose immense upstream assets in copper and iron ore have fed the industrialisation of China since the early years of the 21st century and enabled it to return $52 billion to shareholders between 2001 and 2011.
LORD COPPER: There is nothing to fear after JP Morgan loss ...

So, here we go again. Another bank, another huge trade gone bad. This one doesn’t even appear to have been a case of rogue trading; a whole desk seems to have been operating with the full knowledge of the management and/or risk committee.