The inbound shipment of steel is "very minimal", Steel minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said on Thursday amid industry flagging the issue of "cheap imports".

"If you look at the numbers, the rise is very very minimal. Our market is growing tremendously and our domestic producers are supplying well," the minister told PTI in reply to a question on increasing imports.

According to industry data, imports of finished steel rose by 21 per cent to 4.77 million tonnes (MT) in 2022 from 3.94 MT in 2021.

Alok Sahay, Secretary General of the Indian Steel Association (ISA), said the industry is undergoing the pressure of supply chain issues coupled with increasing raw material prices.

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Of the overall imports, 58 per cent of the imports are at zero per cent duty from Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries

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ISA is the apex industry body of steel sector.

The prices of key raw material coking coal have registered a sharp increase of 55 per cent from $248 per tonne on December 1, 2022 to $345 a tonne on February 15, he said.

"Steel is exported to India by FTA countries at lower than their domestic prices, which is nothing but dumping. We have been repeatedly raising the issue of cheap imports with the ministry," Sahay said.

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Coking coal is a key raw material used in the manufacturing of steel and India remains dependent on imports to meet over 85 per cent of its coking coal requirement.

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