Despite a significant decrease in steel imports in January-October 2025, India remained a net importer of steel, according to BigMint data.
According to the latest data, imports of steel products to India for this period amounted to about 8 million tons, which is 15 percent less year-on-year. After reaching a 9-year peak in 2024 of more than 11 million tons, steel imports to India slowed in 2025 due to the introduction of protective duties to protect domestic industry.
Import of products and goods by country
Steel imports from Asian countries - China, South Korea and Japan - decreased significantly in January-October 2025. While imports from Korea and Japan fell by 4 percent and 24 percent, respectively, steel shipments from China fell even more sharply, by more than 50 percent year-on-year. However, imports from Vietnam and other countries of origin have increased.
The sharpest drop was observed in imports of flat rolled products, which fell by 27 percent year-on-year to 5.45 million tons during the reporting period. While stainless steel imports decreased by 10 percent year-on-year to about 1.3 million tons, imports of semi-finished products increased exponentially due to the supply of slabs and semi-finished products by a leading integrated steelmaker from its overseas subsidiaries.
Why did steel imports fall?
Protective duty increases the cost of imports: With the introduction of a 12 percent protective duty, the cost of importing sheet steel remains above domestic prices.
