India’s crude steel production at 6.8 MT in June: Steel Ministry
Steel industry in India shows signs of improvement and in June. The country’s crude steel production stood at 6.8 million tonnes (MT), according to the Ministry of Steel. At, 6.8 MT, the production was 17.7 per cent higher over May 2020, but on a year-on-year basis it was lower by 27.2 per cent over June 2019, the ministry said in an update.
The ministry noted that economic activities, after hitting the nadir in April 2020 due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown, have started showing signs of improvement from May 2020.
According to the ministry “This was reflected in the performance of eight core industries (with a weight of 40.27 per cent in IIP) which as against a decline of 37 per cent in April 2020 registered a decline of 23.4 per cent in May 2020. The Index of steel production fell by 83.9 per cent in April 2020 registered a decline of 48.4 per cent in May 2020,”
The production has shown a consistent improvement after witnessing a decline in April this fiscal. The ministry said that the production of finished steel at 5.9 MT in June 2020, was up 15.6 per cent compared to 5.1 MT in May 2020. However, on a year-on-year basis, the output of finished steel in June 2020 was lower by 33.3 per cent.
In June 2020, the retail prices of HRC (hot-rolled coil), CRC (cold rolled coil) and rebar increased by 1.43 per cent, 1.69 per cent and 2.17 per cent respectively, due to uptick in various activities because of phased relaxation in lockdown along with an increase in exports during the month.
The ministry also said that BSE Sensex and BSE Metal Indices recorded an increase of 6.1 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively, in June 2020 indicating recovery after lockdown.
The government has set a target of scaling up India’s crude steelmaking capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030.
The ministry also added that while ensuring an increase in the production of steel and its consumption, it is also necessary to identify and address the challenges the users face in terms of adopting domestic steel products.
