India’s imports of aluminium bars, rods and profiles rise in tandem with construction sector growth

India’s imports of aluminium products have been rising over the last two years though at a ‘not-so-unusual rate’ as has been the buzz in certain segments of the industry in recent times. Considering the country’s overall growth, the imports have shown a rather marginal increase. Aluminium products including aluminium bars, rods, and profiles, wire, foils, cans and containers, plates, sheets and strips, and structures comprise a major percentage of India’s total aluminium import which has charted a year-over-year growth as depicted in the below table:



Data Courtesy: Industry Source

From the above table it is evident that imports have grown marginally by 1, 79,431 mt only in absolute terms in 4 years from 2011-12 to 2015-16 but as a percentage in terms of India’s production of aluminium, it has remained almost at the same level and increased slightly. It was close to 15 per cent of Indian production in 2011-12 which increased to 17 per cent in 2015-16. In this period, the installed capacity of the country has also increased by 7, 88,169 mt, exports increased by 336 per cent and domestic sale of aluminium also increased by 40 per cent, as per data provided by a reliable industry source.

{googleAdsense}

India’s total imports of aluminium bars, rods, and profiles which find major use in the construction sector have risen in tandem with the country’s realty sector and infrastructure growth. In 2014, total imports of this particular product category totalled at 25993.23 tonnes, which increased to reach 32558.04 tonnes in 2015. In 2016, the volume is estimated to increase further to reach 37580.06 tonnes, up 15.42 per cent and 44.5 per cent from financial year 2015 and 2016 respectively.  

Value-wise, India’s total imports of aluminium bars, rods and profiles amounted to US$89.30 million in 2014. In 2015, the value grew 15.6 per cent YoY to reach US$103.25 million, and in 2016, it is estimated to reach US$108.01 million, up 4.61 per cent from the previous fiscal.


Though there are a lot many factors and import volumes to be considered to reach a conclusion, it remains somewhat debatable, in the wake of the above data, as in why India’s primary producers are insisting on imposing further protection on aluminium products import. Dumping of aluminium products from countries like China definitely remains an issue to be dealt with seriousness, but whether imposing a minimum import price (MIP) on aluminium would solve the issue- only time will tell.