India steel industry on revival path |
With the revival of the Indian automobile industry and government`s infrastructure projects as the lockdown eased in the country, there is a significant surge in demand for steel which is driving the recovery of large Indian private steel producers, with some even beating last year`s numbers. Large steel producers like Tata Steel operated at 100% capacity for the first time in August since the nationwide lockdown. JSW Steel, the second-largest producer, saw 15% growth in flat steel products at 980,000 tonnes in August, while crude steel production rose 5% year-on-year, and 6% sequentially to 1.31 million tonnes. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd sold 625,000 tonnes of steel in the domestic market in August, growing 18% month-on-month and 37% from the year-ago period. India Steel Association said that according to their estimates, steel demand will fall 20-21% this calendar year compared to 2019. Last year, domestic demand for finished steel was about 102.6 million tonnes and this year, it is expected to be at 81-82 million tonnes. From January to June, they lost about 15.3 mt of demand. The industry expects that from July to December, demand will fall by another 5-6 mt compared to 2019. There is a significant shift in demand patterns in July-August compared to April-June. Long steel products, used in construction, were expected to lead the recovery, but muted activity in private construction and real estate sectors due to the labour shortage and monsoon threw a spanner in the works. However, flat steel production stepped up to meet demand from consumer segments such as automotive and household appliances.
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