India and New Zealand have finalised a free trade agreement, with formal signing expected next year. Every new FTA redraws part of the map for metal and mineral flows — tariff lines, rules of origin and quota treatment decide which trade routes make commercial sense and which quietly close. Exporters in steel, alloys and minerals will be reading the fine print for openings once the text is public, and watching how the agreement interacts with the wider network of trade deals India has been assembling across the Asia-Pacific.