Steel production-demand mismatch continues

Mumbai : A glaring mismatch between the steel demand and production continues in India. According to the data provided by the Joint Plant Committee, the government body that tracks steel metrics in India, steel production in the first six months of the year grew by 9.3 per cent whereas demand rose by a mere 1.8 per cent.

The period of April-September saw the country producing a total of 34.79 million tonne (mt) of steel as against 31.82 mt in the same period last year. The real consumption remained at 33.7 mt versus 33.1 mt last year, clocking a growth of a mere 1.8 per cent. However, when compared on a month-on-month basis, the steel production in the month of September was recorded at 5.73 mt as against 6.43 million tonne in August.