India’s construction boom with its gleaming highrises and multilane highways was supposed to drive up domestic steel sales, but Jogindra Group’s mills in northern Punjab state are filled with unsold inventory.

A flood of cheap Chinese steel has pushed India’s smaller mills to scale down operations and consider job cuts, as the South Asian nation joins a growing list of countries contemplating action to stem imports.

India, the world’s second-largest steel maker, turned into a net importer in the last fiscal year, sounding alarms in New Delhi about what a weakened sector portends for the security of future infrastructure projects and steel-reliant industries.

At small and medium-sized mills, which account for 41% of India’s total steel output and employ more than 1.5 million people, capacity utilisation has dropped by nearly a third over the past six months, executives from a dozen such producers said in interviews.

In Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab’s “steel city”, the cluster of mills is unable to compete with Chinese imports often sold at up to 10% less than Indian offerings.

“If we are not able to compete in the market, our plant won’t run at full capacity,” said Adarsh Garg, chairman and managing director at Jogindra Group.

“We will be forced to lay off 10% to 15% of our employees here if this continues,” Garg said. Despite offering discounts on its products, the company’s sales have dropped 30% to 35% in the past six months, forcing it to cut output by nearly a third, Garg said.

Raju John, director general of the Builders Association of India, said developers and engineering firms are lured by the savings.

Chinese steel sells for $25 to $50 a metric ton cheaper and sometimes as much as $70.

Finished steel imports from China reached an all-time high this year, up more than 30%, and included both hot-rolled steel used in construction and galvanised steel for the automobile industry.

The influx has battered domestic sales while China’s lower prices have also eroded Indian exports.

‘Everyone is bleeding’

China produces more steel than the rest of the world combined, and its bargain offerings on the global market have prompted widespread trade complaints.

That output, expected to continue in 2025, coupled with heightened export volumes since China’s property crisis battered demand from the domestic construction industry, has rattled steel markets overseas, even in countries with a strong local industry.

“Surging imports at predatory prices with reducing export opportunity is today a major concern for the survival of (the) Indian steel industry,” the Indian Steel Association said in a presentation to the government.

The association said steel companies are struggling to initiate expansion plans after their profit margins dropped by 68% to 91% so far this fiscal year.

Prices have suffered with hot-rolled coil used in construction plummeting to a three-year low earlier this year.

While smaller steelmakers have been hit the hardest, even big Indian producers such as JSW Steel and Tata Steel are concerned and have backed the association’s efforts to push for curbs on Chinese imports.

The process to impose import curbs, which could take four to six months, is subject to paperwork completion by the industry and a subsequent government investigation to determine whether Chinese imports are harming Indian steel mills.

New Delhi is keen to avoid mass layoffs for the industry’s 2.5 million workers as India struggles to employ its surging population.

Steel also fortifies India’s rapid development, from new housing to massive infrastructure projects required to sustain the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

A senior government official with knowledge of the matter said the financial stability of steel companies is required to ensure future demand is met.

Steel mills across India are feeling the pinch.

“During July-September, the export orders we were waiting for did not come through because we lost business to China,” said Sagar Yadav, a senior general manager at Goodluck India steel mills in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

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In the western city of Pune, Neo Mega Steel has lost orders from the automobile industry to Chinese rivals, said Managing Director Vedant Goel.

And in western Maharashtra state, Bhagyalaxmi Rolling Mill has been hit by a sharp drop in exports. Nitin Kabra, a director at the mill, said he expects production cuts at the start of next year.

“Chinese imports have impacted our margins and morale,” Kabra said. “Prices have fallen so low that everyone is bleeding.”