Steel Exports Failed to Surge Despite Duty Cuts

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The government’s decision in November last year to revoke duty imposed on several steel products has not yielded the desired results. The country’s steel exports have failed to touch pre-duty levels, says latest trade statistics. It must be noted that an export duty of up to 15% was imposed on a wide range of finished steel products in May 2022.

The duty was revoked after a period of six months at a time when steel industry has been hit by reduced demand on account of economic slowdown in various countries across the globe, which happens to be the key markets for steel exports.

As per data, the monthly exports during the five-month period from December 2022 to May 2023 averaged at around 683,000 tonnes, as compared with the average monthly exports of 1.089 million tonnes during the initial five-month period in 2022.

The exports totalled 5.46 million tonnes during December 2022 to May 2023, higher when matched with the prior five-month period. However, this was significantly lower than the exports recorded during the Jan-May ’22 period, before the duty was imposed.

According to domestic steelmakers, the sluggish growth in exports is not much of a concern as they expect domestic steel demand to gain strength from November 2023 onwards. This will compensate for the muted export demand, they noted.