Posted on 27 Oct 2020
Indian semi-finished product exports, the majority of which were billet, surged 194% on-year in August to 574,074 tonnes, Kallanish learns from Indian commerce ministry provisional data. They however dropped below 900,000t for the first time in four months.
The average value of HS code 720719 billet exports was $377/tonne in August versus $390/t in August 2019 and $372/t in July 2020.
China continued to be the main growth driver, taking in 276,733t of overall Indian semis exports in August versus 17,010t a year earlier. Nepal decreased intake -25% on-year to 64,530t but Sri Lanka took in 165% more at 64,162t. The Philippines took in 62,252t versus zero a year earlier, while Thailand increased intake 284% to 40,304t.
Semis exports in January-August thus rose 230% on-year to 4.38 million tonnes, with China, Nepal and Thailand the top markets in that order.
Shipments abroad of India’s other major steel export – hot rolled flat products – grew 24% in August to 817,140t, slowing from much more rapid growth in previous months (see Kallanish passim). Eight-month exports rose 74% to 5.45mt.
Source:Kallanish
