October 8: India’s steel consumption grew 5% year-on-year in September to 6.2 million tons (mt) compared to the same period last year but consumption in September declined by 5.2% compared to August 2015, indicating volatile trends in business sentiment, according to provisional steel ministry data.
India’s consumption of total finished steel posted a growth of 4.1% in April-September, 2015-16 at 39.142 mt compared to the same period of last year.
Production of the metal too went south by 0.8% to 7.27 mt year-on-year in September 2015, provisional data by the ministry said.
However, in the first half of the fiscal, finished steel production fell by 0.5% year-on-year to 45.64 mt compared to April-September 2014-15, it added.
Imports during September 2015 stood at 850,000 tons, up 1.7% year-on-year over 836,000 tons in the same period last year. In the first half of the fiscal, steel imports rose 41.4% year-on-year to 5.42 million tons.
Exports during September 2015 stood at 300,000 tons, down 14% year-on-year over 349,000 tons in the same period last year. In the April-September period, steel exports fell 26.2% year-on-year to 2.02 million tons.
Total finished steel |
Indian steel scene April-September 2015-16 (prov) |
|
(alloy + non-alloy) |
Qty in million tons |
% change |
Production for sale |
45.64 |
-0.5 |
Import |
5.4 |
41.4 |
Export |
2.02 |
-26.2 |
Consumption |
39.14 |
4.1 |
Crude steel production |
45.13 |
1 |
Source: Steel Ministry