India’s crude steel output grew six per cent to 26 million tonne (MT) in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year, according to official data. The country had produced 24.5 MT of crude steel during April-June, 2017-18, the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) said in its latest report.
The JPC, under Ministry of Steel, collects and maintains data on the domestic iron and steel sector.
Domestic steel demand saw a healthy increase of 8.5% yoy in the first two months of FY19. Steel production during the same period rose by 6.1% yoy. The sharp increase in steel demand led to a 28.8% yoy decrease in exports and a 14.8% yoy increase in imports. The strong uptick in demand was due to the rise in infrastructure spending as well as strong automobile sales.
Ind-Ra expects EBITDA per tonnes of players SAIL and RINL to improve over FY19-20.
“The operational performance of key sector participants to remain strong in the remainder of FY19, in view of a robust steel consumption demand, aided by government spending on infrastructure and housing and a modest recovery in private capex cycle,” India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said in its report here.