Steel consumption in India plummets

October 9, New Delhi. Steel demand in India fell by more than 5.2 percent in September to 6.2 million tonnes, daily The Hindu reported.

The sharp drop in steel demand reflects the decline in business activity in the region.

In addition, India's steel production fell 1.3 percent in September to 7.33 million tonnes. Compared to September last year, steel production in the country decreased by 0.5 percent.

Nevertheless, on an annualized basis, steel consumption in India in April-September (the first half of the fiscal year) increased by 4.1 percent to 39.14 million tons.

According to experts, although consumption figures for the first six months are encouraging, there was a huge drop in steel demand in September, as steel consumption in India grew by 4.8 percent in August.

Experts call the real estate sector the culprit for the fall, which is "still far from recovery."

India's largest integrated steel producers, SAIL, RINL, TSL, Essar, JSWL and JSPL, collectively smelted 23.67 million tonnes in April-September 2015, showing a slight increase of 3.3 percent YoY. Other smaller producers produced 21.47 million tonnes of steel, decreasing their indicators by 1.5 percent compared to the same period.