China imports iron ore from India.
It is shipped from India all the way to China. Then this iron ore is processed and converted into steel.
This steel is then sold across the world.
China is selling cold rolled steel for 537 US Dollar per ton.
Indian companies were selling steel for 580 US Dollar per ton.
After buying iron ore from India, spending all the money on transporting the iron ore to China, then refining it and creating steel, China is able to sell Steel 10% cheaper than India.
The result is that steel manufacturers in India have to cancel their export orders as they can not compete with China on the FOB prices.
How does this magic happen?
You see, power is a key input for refining iron ore and converting it to steel. Power in India is about 20% more expensive than China. In India almost all power is now privatized and companies like Adani sell power along with Tata, Torrent, etc.
The power companies are making it impossible for local manufacturers to gain a competitive advantage.
65% of power is coal based thermal power. There too Adani is one of the importers of coal. Coal India Limited has surplus coal but Government is telling all thermal plants that they have to use at least 4 to 10% of imported coal (imported by none other than Adani) to blend the domestic coal.
That is why China looks like magic. We are more interested in generating profits from our local consumers itself, China is generating profits from the world.
