[Ferro-Alloys.com] India’s crude steel production increased 5.4 percent to 8.107 million tonnes (MT) in April, from 7.69 MT during the same month last year, according to an official data released today.

However, the production in last month fell 2.7 percent compared to March 2017 (8.274), the data showed.

“SAIL, RINL, TSL, Essar, JSWL & JSPL together produced 4.579 MT during April 2017, a growth of 10 percent compared to same period of last year.

“The rest 3.528 MT came from the other producers, which was a decline of 0.1 percent over April 2016,” the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) report said.

The country has registered a whopping 142 percent growth in exports during last month, according to JPC report for April.

Export of total finished steel was up by 142 percent in April 2017 (0.747 MT) over April 2016. However, it fell 54 percent as compared to 1.621 MT in March 2017.

On the other hand, the imports declined 23 percent to 0.504 MT over April 2016, it said.

India’s consumption of finished steel during April saw a growth of 3.4 percent at 6.051 MT over April 2016. However, it fell 22 percent compared to March this year “under the influence of a declining supply side as both production for sale and imports declined” in April, the JPC report said.

Empowered by the Ministry of Steel, Joint Plant Committee (JPC) is the only institution in the country, which collects data on the Indian iron and steel industry.

India is the third largest producer of crude steel in the world after China and Japan. The country is now aiming to reach the second spot.

The government is taking various measures and initiatives to promote the domestic steel sector and raise capacity.

On May 3, the Cabinet gave nod to a new policy that aims to achieve steel making capacity of 300 million tonnes by 2030 with an additional investment of Rs 10 lakh crore.

The same day, the government approved a policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products in procurement by the government and its agencies.

**Article from Internet for reference only