Posted on 10 Sep 2026
India has remained a net importer of finished steel in August 2026, as consumption growth continues to outstrip domestic production, according to provisional data from the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) seen by Kallanish.
Finished steel imports rose 8% year-on-year to 0.721 million tonnes during August, while exports climbed faster at 31.3% y-o-y to 0.69mt, leaving India with a net import position for the month despite the stronger export growth rate.
Crude steel production edged down 0.1% y-o-y to 14.1mt in August and fell 1.8% from July's 14.35mt. Finished steel production rose a modest 0.3% y-o-y to 13.48mt but slipped 3.9% on-month from 14.03mt in July.
This modest production softness contrasts with resilient demand. Finished steel consumption climbed 3.9% y-o-y to 14.32mt in August.
Over the wider April-August FY27 period, the trend is more pronounced. Cumulative finished steel imports climbed 29.5% y-o-y to 3.49mt, tracking closely with export growth of 34.1% y-o-y to 2.986mt. While consumption grew 7% y-o-y to 70.29mt against production growth of just 3.8% y-o-y to 68.14mt — indicating a widening gap between demand and domestic supply gains.
Imports averaged 0.7mt over the March-August six-month window, with August's 0.72mt marking the period's high against a low of 0.5mt in March. Exports averaged 0.6mt over the same stretch, with August's 0.69mt running above average, just shy of July's 0.7mt high and well above April's 0.5mt low.
Pig iron and hot metal output also declined in August, down 1.3% and 1.1% y-o-y respectively, with steeper monthly falls of 4.5% and 4.7%, pointing to softer upstream activity even as finished steel volumes held closer to flat.
Private sector producers continued to dominate output, accounting for 84% of crude steel production (11.87mt) and 86% of finished steel production (11.58mt) in August, overall volumes by these producers fell 4.0% m-o-m.
On pricing, JPC's retail price trend data show hot rolled coil (2mm) was averaging 17.4% higher in August 2026 against a September 2025 base. Cold rolled coil (0.63mm) prices were up 15.9%, and billets rose 9.7% over the same period, reflecting sustained cost pass-through across the value chain.
This uptrend echoes the recent milestone of Indian domestic flat steel prices hitting multi-year highs, underscoring firming momentum across India's flat products segment.
Source:Kallanish
