High steel prices dent MSME engg exports

Ways to help engg sector

• The prices of hot rolled sheets have jumped to over Rs80,000 per tonne from Rs 30,000 per tonne two years back

• Engineering exporters need alloy and other inputs at affordable rates so that export competitiveness of value-added products is maintained in the global markets

• Several competing countries, particularly China, provide support to manufacturing units by providing steel and other inputs at much reasonable prices to boost competitiveness of their engineering sector in the global markets

• India is gradually losing out its markets to other countries in the value-added segment of exports

MSME engineering sector contributed over $111 bn in India's total merchandise exports of $420 bn during 2021-22

New Delhi: The surge in steel prices in the domestic market is badly affecting the country's MSME engineering exporters and the government should immediately announce urgent measures to help them sustain in the global markets, Hand Tools Association said on Wednesday.

Hand Tools Association President SC Ralhan said that the prices of hot rolled sheets have jumped to over Rs 80,000 per tonne from Rs 30,000 per tonne two years back. He said that if Indonesia can announce ban on its palm oil exports to help their domestic industry, "why can't our government take some similar measures" to help the engineering sector which has contributed over $111 billion in the country's total merchandise exports of $420 billion during 2021-22. "The significant surge in prices has hit the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) so badly that they are unable to sustain in the competitive world market, and it is also affecting the whole idea of make in India," Ralhan said.

Engineering exporters need alloy and other inputs at affordable rates so that export competitiveness of value-added products is maintained in the global markets, he added. Several competing countries, particularly China, provide support to manufacturing units by providing steel and other inputs at much reasonable prices to boost competitiveness of their engineering sector in the global markets, Ralhan said. He said that India is gradually losing out its markets to other countries in the value-added segment of exports. Sharing similar views, Mumbai-based exporter and founder chairman of Technocraft Industries India Sharad Kumar Saraf said that the prices are hitting the engineering exporters. "We would urge the government for its immediate intervention in the matter," Saraf said. Federation of Indian Export Organiations (FIEO) Vice President Khalid Khan too said that in the given situation, the MSME industry needs to be provided steel at reasonable prices so that export competitiveness of value-added products is maintained.