Mumbai: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AM/NS) India has claimed that carmakers will no longer have to rely on imports of steel citing unavailability of the right quality of the alloy in sufficient quantities, once it commissions its new $1-billion production line in March.
Currently, car companies in India consume about 8 million tonnes of steel annually, nearly a fifth of which is imported, Ranjan Dhar, director and vice-president, sales & marketing, AM/NS India, said. A large part of this import is due to the required quality of steel not being available in India, he said.
“This line that we are setting up in India will do pretty much everything. It is one of the most advanced auto steel lines globally because it’s coming now, and we are putting a higher capex than anybody has put for an automotive steel line,” Dhar said.
“When this line will be ready, the need for imports of any of the automotive products will be absolutely zero,” he said.
AM/NS India’s claim to substitute imports comes at a time when steel shipments coming into India have been on the rise. India’s steel imports between April and November 2024 surged 27% to 6.5 million tonnes, as per government data.
Earlier, foreign automakers have specifically been called out for their reliance on imports, especially of the steel used to make the body parts of their cars.
“The Korean auto industry, specifically Hyundai and Kia, are clearly two of the laggards. They have enjoyed the benefits of our free-trade agreement with Korea and Japan and continue to import indiscriminately. So, they have cost us dearly, and I don’t mind saying it publicly,” Piyush Goyal, Union minister of commerce and industry, said in a public forum in 2023 as reported by Times of India.
To be sure, steel imports by the automotive industry have been on a secular decline over the past decade. The recent surge in steel shipments has largely been on account of imports by dealers and distributors, who supply to smaller user industries.
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AM/NS India, a joint venture of the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel, is setting up a continuous galvanizing line (CGL) and a continuous galvanizing and annealing line (CGAL) at its plant at Hazira near Surat. Some of the products manufactured on the 2-million-tonnes-per-annum line will be manufactured for the first time in India, the company said.
“Once operational, these additions will not only enable us to indigenously produce new offerings that are widely recognised globally but also help grow our portfolio as well as our market share. This expansion plays a key role in our strategy to strengthen the country’s steel ecosystem and boost global competitiveness, thereby reinforcing ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative,” Dilip Oommen, chief executive officer, AM/NS India, said in a statement.
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