Kolkata: Despite rising economic activities, finished steel consumption in September this year was lower by 3.6 per cent over the corresponding month last year but production of the metal grew, a report said.
Compared to September in 2019, the consumption of steel at 8.2 million tonne in the last month was also down by three per cent, CARE Ratings said in a study.
However, the consumption of the metal was higher by 2.3 per cent on a month-on-month basis, it said.
Crude and finished steel production during September 2021 stood at 9.5 million tonne and 9 million tonne respectively, indicating a growth of 8.7 per cent and 4.7 per cent over the year-ago month, the report said.
July to September being a seasonally weak quarter has led to subdued demand in the domestic market for finished steel, it said.
The demand and supply of steel are expected to improve with a rise in economic activities and will also be driven by the infrastructure push of the government, the rating agency said.
On a cumulative basis, production of crude steel for the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal was 57.2 million tonne, registering a 30 per cent growth year-on-year, while consumption was at 49.1 million tonne, a jump of 34.4 per cent over the corresponding period of FY’21.