NEW DELHI: India’s exports of finished and semi-finished steel to China has risen sharply this financial year, spurred by the latter’s quick economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and despite the rising tensions between the neighbours in Ladakh.
India’s total iron and steel exports in the first five months of this fiscal to China were more than three times the figure in the entire financial year 2019-20.
Data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows that the total iron and steel exports to China were worth $1.86 billion in April-August 2020, up from $514 million for all of 2019-20.
More than two-thirds of these exports were of hot-rolled products and semi-finished products of iron and non-alloy steel, the data showed.
India exported $889 million worth of semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel to China in the first five months of 2020-21, as against $107.24 million overall 2019-20. The exports of hot-rolled products of iron and non-alloy steel were at $637 million this year, as against just $23 million last year.