|
India's finished steel consumption continued to grow steadily in July 2026 amid stable production and robust domestic demand, even as the country remained a net importer of finished steel, with imports rising 9.5 per cent year-on-year despite a sharp 44.1 per cent increase in exports, according to data released by the Ministry of Steel.
As per the release, India's finished steel consumption increased 6.5 per cent year-on-year to 14.4 million tonnes (Mt) in July, compared with 13.5 Mt in the same month last year. "India was net importer of finished steel in terms of quantity for the period of Apr-Jul 2026," the release said. During the April-July 2026 period, consumption rose 7.8 per cent to 55.9 Mt from 51.9 Mt a year earlier, which reflects continued strength in domestic demand. At the same time, steel production grew moderatly during the month with crude steel output rising 1.2 per cent year-on-year to 14.3 Mt in July. Hot metal production increased 1.6 per cent to 8.1 Mt. Finished steel production grew 1.4 per cent to 13.7 Mt. During the first four months of FY27, crude steel production stood at 56.3 Mt, up 2.6 per cent from the corresponding period last year. Finished steel output rose 4.0 per cent to 54.3 Mt, while hot metal production increased 1.5 per cent to 31.6 Mt. Coming to the steel prices, the data showed that steel prices softened sequentially during July across major product categories. TMT (10 mm) prices declined 5.6 per cent month-on-month to Rs 56,698 per tonne, while HR (Hot Rolled) coil prices slipped 0.4 per cent to Rs 69,828 per tonne. CR (cold rolled) coil and GP (galvanized plain) sheet prices also eased marginally during the month, although all major steel products continued to remain higher than their year-ago levels, as per the data. The Ministry further noted, the country's top seven steel producers together accounted for 31.2 Mt of crude steel production during April-July, contributing to more than half of the total domestic output. Among public sector enterprises, SAIL and NMDC continued to strengthen their positions. "SAIL received a Licensing Agreement for Transfer of Technology (LAToT) from the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), DRDO, to manufacture DMR-249A, DMR-249B and DMR-249BK grade steel for naval ships and submarines." NMDC also delivered robust production performance at 4.06 MT, registering 31 per cent YoY growth, taking cumulative FY27 production to 19.16 MT and sales to 15.15 MT, the release said. "An NMDC delegation held discussions with senior officials in Argentina to explore investment and partnership opportunities in copper and other strategic minerals, strengthening NMDC's international mineral development initiatives." (ANI)
|
