The rapid spread of coronavirus and its crippling effect on economies across the globe is set to keep Indian steel exports subdued in the near term. A report by rating agency ICRA Ltd forecasts that steel exports from the country are likely to be muted in the near term due to curbs on trade flow and depressed demand in buyer nations especially Italy and Belgium which accounted for 14 per cent of India’s outbound steel shipments during April-February period of FY20.
Report from ICRA noted “iven the risk of delayed deliveries due to bottlenecks in production, logistics, and port handling capacities, as well as the risk of transmission from import consignments, resulting in stringent scrutiny from port customs authorities, India’s steel imports are likely to remain low in the coming months.”
ICRA report observed “The same, along with the continuing macroeconomic headwinds, could affect domestic steel consumption and pressurise steel prices in the coming months. Consequently, we estimate the domestic steel consumption growth to remain low at 2-3 per cent in FY21, as against our November 2019 forecast of 6.5 per cent.”
Source: STEELGURU
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