JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NMDC Shares Crack 2%; Why Metal Stocks Are Under Pressure Today?

Metal Stock Meltdown: JSW Steel, Lloyd SME, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, NMDC, Hindalco, and other metal sector stocks were trading in red on Monday, days after the United States President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on steel imports.

Nifty Metal was trading 0.98% lower at noon on Monday, with JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta, and Tata Steel emerging as top losers. The downward trend in metal sector stocks has come after Donald Trump announced to double tariffs on metal imports.

United States President Donald Trump announces Import Tariffs

United States President Donald Trump on Friday claimed to save America's steel industry by doubling tariffs on steel imports. Trump had announced to double import tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50%. Trump's steel tariffs are likely to come into effect from June 4 in a bid to protect the US domestic industry.

According to experts, India's steel industry has no direct impact or exposure to the US steel and aluminium markets. However, Trump's tariff announcement is likely to hurt the global trade sentiment, which may have a ripple effect on India's metal sector as well.

Donald Trump had increased tariffs on steel imports under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The law empowers the US President to impose tariffs or oher trade restrictions if the import of these items emerges as a national security risk for the country.

Metal Stocks Under Pressure

JSW Steel shares were trading nearly 1.52% lower at Rs 979 per share on BSE on Monday with a market capitalisation of Rs 2,39,532.22 crore. Shares of Tata Steel, Vedanta, Hindalco, and NMDC were down nearly 1.43%, 0.72%, 0.52%, and 0.77%, respectively. These companies recently announced their March quarterly results last week.

United States is a key market for Indian steel and aluminium imports and has exported nearly $4.56 billion articles to the US in FY2025, but threatened tariffs will make Indian steel less competitive in the US, noted Satish Chandra Aluri, Lemonn Markets Desk.

"Vulnerable exports include semi-finished and finished steel products like stainless steel pipes, structural steel components, and automotive steel parts. While the direct impact may be limited (since the U.S. is not India's largest steel export market), the bigger risk is global trade distortion," explained Aluri.

"Higher U.S. tariffs could redirect steel originally bound for America to other markets, including India, worsening oversupply. Indian steelmakers are already struggling-FY25 marked India's second straight year as a net steel importer, with imports up 9.2% and exports down 27%," he added.

US Tariffs on Steel Imports To Impact Steel, Aluminium Industry in India

While experts hint that most of the Indian companies do not have a vast exposure to the US markets, but the announcement could hurt the profitability of certain companies, according to Global Trade Research Initiative.

"U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminium will impact Indian exporters, as it would hurt their profitability," PTI quoted think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) on Saturday, May 31.
"These exports are now exposed to sharply higher U.S. tariffs, threatening the profitability of Indian producers and exporters," GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said.
According to PTI, India exported around $4.56 billion with of iron, steel and aluminium products to the US. Out of the toal exports, key categories include $587.5 million in iron and steel, $3.1 billion in articles of iron and $860 million in aluminium and related articles.
Prior to Trump's latest tariff announcement on steel imports, India had issued a formal notice to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which signalled its intention to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods.

"With Trump now doubling the tariffs, it remains to be seen whether India will carry out the retaliation by increasing tariffs on certain U.S. exports within a month," Srivastava added.

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