Recently unveiled Anti-Dumping Duty and National Steel Policy on steel products to benefit tonnage market of Industrial gases in India
India is one of the few countries which have remain unaffected through global overcapacity and slowdown in metal sector during 2014-16 period. This has resulted in continuous demand of tonnage and bulk oxygen throughout the period under consideration. The industrial gases are required for steel processing and various other process which are obtained using on-site tonnage plants mainly. The Indian Steel industry produced more than 90 million tonnes of total finished steel (alloy and non-alloy) in the period 2015-2016. This accounts for a rise in demand for steel in India with a growth of about 5.3% in 2015 as compared to 2014.
India Total Finished Steel Production, Imports and Exports, 2012-2016 (Million Tonnes)
|
Total Finished Steel (in million tonnes)
(alloy/stainless + non-alloy)
|
2011-12
|
2012-13
|
2013-14
|
2014-15
|
2015-16
|
|
Production
|
75.7
|
81.68
|
87.67
|
92.16
|
90.98
|
|
Imports
|
6.86
|
7.93
|
5.45
|
9.32
|
11.71
|
|
Exports
|
4.59
|
5.37
|
5.98
|
5.59
|
4.08
|
Source: TechSci Research
As of 2015, China was the largest exporter of steel across the globe and has exported more than 83 million metric tons of steel in 2016 as compared to about 81 million metric tons in 2015 displaying a growth of approx. 2.4% in 2015-2016. China exports steel to India at a much lower price than the domestic cost of production of steel which impacts negatively on the steel market in the country. To prevent this India has imposed Anti-Dumping Duty on various steel products imported from countries like China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. On May 13, 2017, the government of India imposed anti-dumping duties up to USD561 per tonne on hot rolled steel and up to USD489 per tonne on hot rolled alloy and non-alloy coils and plates from China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and South Korea. Anti-Dumping Duty will help in neutralizing the price variation in the domestic and imported products. India has already imposed Anti-Dumping Duty on some products provided by South Korean Steel manufacturer, POSCO and Japanese company, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.
To meet the domestic demand of steel while minimizing steel imports in the country, India has introduced National Steel Policy 2017 which is likely to increase the competitiveness of steel industry and to promote technological advancement for the same in the country. The new policy is set to increase the crude steel capacity of the country to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 which will require a wide range of natural resources, capital, labor and infrastructure. For the expected capacity of crude steel, the country is likely to see increase in steel manufacturing plants which will result in increasing demand for industrial gases such as Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon and other rare gases in the country.
India Major Tonnage Plants, By Capacity (Million Tonnes per Day)
|
Owner
|
Location
|
Capacity (MTPD)
|
|
Linde India
|
TATA Steel Ltd, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
|
2550
|
|
Linde India
|
JSW Steel Limited, Bellary, Karnataka
|
2655
|
|
Praxair India Pvt. Ltd.
|
SAIL, Bhilai, Chattisgarh
|
2500
|
|
INOX Air Products Private Limited
|
Essar Steel Ltd, Hazira, Maharashtra
|
5100
|
|
Air Liquide
|
SAIL, Bokaro, Jharkhand
|
2*550
|
Source: TechSci Research
Steel Authority of India Limited, TATA Steel Ltd, JSW Steel Limited, Essar Steel Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited and Jindal Steel and Power Limited are the major players in Steel industry and are the key consumers of industrial gases in India. In 2016, JSW Steel Limited acquired JSW Praxair Oxygen Pvt Ltd and renamed it to JSW Industrial Gases Pvt Ltd. Companies operating in India industrial gases market commended to focus on brownfield expansion of existing unit and upcoming steel units to increase customer base.
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