Indian steel manufacturers are raising urgent concerns over incoming steel imports that they claim are both lower in price and inferior in quality. Industry voices point to cheaper steel from nations such as China, Vietnam and South Korea as setting the domestic price benchmark, thereby squeezing margins for domestic producers.
According to one leading firm, the flood of more affordable and arguably sub-standard imported steel not only depresses domestic prices but also poses risks to safety and quality across sectors including infrastructure, automotive, construction and food processing.
The manufacturers argue that the current import regime allows products that may not meet stringent quality standards to enter the Indian market at a lower landed cost. That, in turn, forces domestic mills to either slash prices or forfeit sales, eroding margins and discouraging investment. Small and medium domestic mills appear to be especially vulnerable.
In response to the rising import challenge, domestic steel companies are urging policymakers to tighten regulations, enforce quality control orders more strictly and consider trade-remedy measures such as anti-dumping duties or safeguard duties on specified steel products. They highlight that unless action is taken swiftly, the compounding effect of margin compression and volume erosion could slow expansion plans, reduce capacity utilisation and hamper the Indian steel sector’s ambition to move up the value-chain.
For the downstream market, the implications are far reaching: a persistent influx of cheaper imports risks undermining the “Make in India” narrative, threatening local employment, and possibly shifting domestic fabrication and ancillary industries back to imported material. The argument is clear: to protect the domestic ecosystem and ensure long-term viability, structural intervention may be required.
As the industry watches carefully, its message is firm — competitive pricing is welcome but not if it results in unfair erosion of domestic competitiveness or compromise of product integrity.
