Difficult times for the Indian steel industry

In India, steelmaking is expected to be negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the 21-day downtime nationwide, and that domestic firms may have to face challenges such as weak domestic demand, which could lead to stockpiling , putting pressure on rolled metal prices.

In the current fiscal year, Icra does not expect a rebound in domestic steel consumption growth. Compared to a 3.8 percent growth rate last fiscal year, consumption growth is likely to be around 2-3 percent in fiscal 20, given that the first quarter can be a very weak quarter.

With the export market also staying cool, with an additional 10 million tonnes of capacity increase in the next fiscal year, industrial capacity utilization is likely to be lower, from 81 percent to about 79 percent in 2020-2021. fiscal year subject to recovery in demand conditions in the second half.