Thanks to a report in Reuters, steel stocks are having a field day today. Tata Steel rose over 3% to Rs.630.55. JSL Hisar is up 4% at Rs.144.70 while JSW Steel hit a new high today at Rs.423.30. SAIL rose almost 4.5% to Rs.79.45.

Reuters has put out a report today stating that in a bid to prop up the rupee, India’s steel ministry has proposed increasing the effective import duty on some steel products to 15% from current rates ranging from 5 to 12.5%. This is news cited from “sources” and not confirmed by any Govt agency.

In Q1FY19, India became a net steel importer for the first time in two years, with foreign supplies reaching 2.1 million tonnes, up 15% (YoY).