Page 8 - Steel Tech India eMagazine Volume April 2022

VOL. 16 • NO. 3 • April 2022

Editorial

Dear Readers,
though the Q4 growth was slow due to many factors such as third wave of pandemic, high
commodity and crude prices due to Russia-Ukraine war, the GDP grew 8.7% in FY22 making
India fastest-growing major economy in the world. With firm PMI, good core sector growth, good
monsoon and other supporting factors, FY23 growth is expected at a healthy rate of 7-8%.
With a good domestic demand, the finished steel consumption for FY22 was around 106 million
ton registering a double digit growth of 11.44% compared to last fiscal. In FY22, finished steel
exports and imports were 13.5 (+ 25.1% compared to last fiscal) and 4.7 (-1.7% compared to last
fiscal) million ton respectively. coupled with better price realisation, many steel companies register a good profit and
started clearing off their debts and investing in cAPeX and expansion. Order books of equipment suppliers were also
full and the steel industry was quite active and vibrant. At the same time, the cost of major raw materials such as iron
ore and coke were skyrocketed affecting both primary and secondary manufacturers.
to increase domestic availability, export duty on iron ore and pellets were hiked to 50% and 45% respectively on 21st
May 2022. this announcement came as a relief to the secondary steel units as they expect their input raw material
sponge iron will come down and the capacity utilisation will increase. however, the iron ore pellet industry is worst hit
by this export duty hike and the export of pellet which was at the level of plus 10 million ton since last two years will be
next to impossible to achieve. Pellet plants were mushroomed across the country in last few years as government was
encouraging value addition instead of exporting iron ore in raw form. Similarly, the export of iron ore (mostly low grade)
which used to be to the tune of 50 plus million ton (around 20% of production) will be very badly hit as well. lifting of
iron ore export ban from Karnataka by the hon’ble Supreme court on 20th May 22 though brought joy to the miners for
which they were waiting for almost a decade but announcement of 50% export duty on iron ore of all gradeson the next
day has dampened the mood.
the government has also levied an export duty of 15% on finished steel on 21st May 2022 which is seen as a huge
setback for the primary steel producers who export. this move not only makes export uncompetitive but also spoils
steel growth drive. Assuming an incremental domestic demand of 7 to 8% in FY23, there will be a surplus of around 10
million tonne if export is taken out of the equation due 15% export duty which will translate to about 120 $ a ton impact
on average. expecting a sustained demand, Indian steel players have planned to commission plus 30 million ton in next
four to five years which will be reviewed by them due to this negative signal. As government is considering the steel
industry as important industry for our economy and expected it to grow to 500 million ton level by 2047, it is expected
that they will look in to this issue seriously and take a decision which will on the whole good for the country.

At the same time, to give relief to steel manufacturers the government has announced nil import duty on PcI, cocking
coal, coke and Ferronickel on 21st May 2022. however, the import duty of 2.5% on thermal coal remains unchanged.
though it is a relief from 2.5% to nil import duty but not good enough to counter the negative impact of the export duty
hike which came as a shocker to steel producers, exporters, traders and others involved in exports of iron ore, pellet
and steel.
Our April issue is focussed on secondarysector steelmaking and covers many interesting articles including sponge iron
and ladle refining of induction furnace steel.
Seeing the excitement and participation in our seminar on ferroalloys conducted in March’21, weorganised an
International Seminar following all cOVID protocols and norms on 11th April 2022 at Itc, Royal on a contemporary topic
“technological Advancement in Ferroalloys & Opportunities for Growth”. the seminar was a great success in respect
due toits content and passionate participation. It was a huge satisfaction for all the participants to meet physically which
gave ample opportunities to meet each other in the Ferro alloy fraternity and allowing much needed networking. this
issue covers 10 papers presented, inaugural session with keynote speech, panel discussion and valedictory session.
We hope the Readers will find the articles, seminar proceedings and coverage informative and interesting.

happy Reading
Pritish K. Sen

6 Steel tech