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High tariffs imposed by the US on Indian exports will have an indirect impact on products made from steel that are traded between the two instead of a direct effect on India’s production and exports, said Steel Secretary, Sandeep Poundrik, on Wednesday.

Speaking at a session of a summit held in New Delhi, Poundrik said India only exports about one lakh tonnes of steel to the US from its total production of 152 million tonnes.

"So, if we take direct impact on steel, it's not much because, practically speaking, we don't export much steel to the US," the senior ministry official said in reply to a question related to the US tariffs.

“Similarly, India does not import much steel from the US. So, the steel trade between India and the US is not very direct”, he added.

 

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India is currently the only country in the world which is clocking a very high growth in steel production, having produced about 152 million tonnes (MT) last year. In the last three years, the sector has grown at an average rate of around 12 per cent annually.

Since domestic growth is robust, it alone provides sufficient impetus for Indian steel producers to ramp up their capacities, the official stated.

"We expect that by 2030, our consumption will be somewhere between 225 to 240 MT. And, to cater to that consumption, we will need about 300 MT capacity. India last year crossed the threshold of 100 kilograms per capita consumption. Now, that's an interesting landmark." 

India’s steel exports, meanwhile, were roughly 4.5 MT, which is only about 3 per cent of the total domestic production, which categorises it as a small sector when it comes to exports.

“Therefore, while exports add value to steel production, they are not a particularly significant factor for domestic producers, as the consumption growth within the country itself is sufficient to keep the steel sector viable,” said Poundrik, adding, “I think tariffs by any country on steel will not be very important for Indian steel producers.”