Amid Border Tension, China Emerges As Top Foreign Buyer Of Indian Steel

Picture courtesy indianexpress.com

New Delhi: At a time when relations with China are at a low ebb because of the simmering border tension at the LAC, it has come as a pleasant surprise that China was the top buyer of Indian steel between April and September this year.

As per government data, China bought 1.9 million tonnes during the post-lockdown period of six months, which amounts to 29% of India’s finished steel exports, Reuters reports. Provisional analysis shows the 6.5 million tonnes of finished steel that India exported is their highest in at least six years.

Domestic demand for steel has been low, due to the contraction in Indian economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. So steel companies have been offloading surpluses to Chinese buyers.

China is the world’s top steel consumer.

With the two countries being locked in a serious military stand-off following the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley near Ladakh in June, the Narendra Modi-headed government has introduced measures aimed to curb Chinese investments. But those measures don’t affect Indian exports.