India is currently gripped by a nasty second wave of COVID which seems to be worsening by the day and which has turned India into the global epicentre of the pandemic. The official figures continue to rise, currently amounting to over 300,000 infections and 4000 deaths recorded on a daily basis, with a large number of cases going unreported.
As India is faced with a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions, local industries are doing what they can to help. In the face of acute shortages, Indian stainless steel producers are supplying much-needed oxygen to hospitals, for example. How this will affect stainless steel production has yet to be seen.
The pandemic has also impacted container freight rates into India. Many shipping lines have reduced their Indian ports of call and increased freight rates to between 200 and 400% of pre-pandemic levels. This is obviously affecting imports into India, with material being sourced “closer to home”. Recent stainless steel scrap import data show, for example, that much less material is currently being brought in from Europe; strong demand from European stainless mills, coupled with very high transportation costs, is making sourcing from Europe less viable - for the time being at least.
