India bags second position in crude steel production, output up by 3.4%

The world's total crude steel production in February stood at 132 million tonne, up 3.5 percent from corresponding period last year as India grabbed the second position pushing Japan a notch lower.

China continued to be the biggest producer of the commodity in the period under review with a production of 64.9 million tonne, up almost 6 percent from same period last year, said World Steel Association in its release. 

India produced 8.4 million of crude steel and was up 3.4 percent from February 2017. Japan dropped to third position to 8.3 million,  down 0.5 percent from last year. South Korea’s crude steel production for February was 5.4 million, down 2.1 percent on year-on-year basis.

“India bagging the second position ahead of Japan speaks volumes about the right policies undertaken. The government has imposed curb on imports, pushed local demand with initiatives like "Make in India,” implementation of the GST and infrastructure projects, to encourage the domestic market,” Nikunj Turakhia, president of Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI) said.

In 2015, India overtook USA to become the third largest producer of crude steel, said SUFI.

“The steel ministry is working proactively to lay down the road map to achieve 300 million tons by 2030 and we seem to be on the right track. In addition, the quick resolution of various big-ticket steel mills under IBC and NCLT is expected to further hasten the process of achieving higher capacity utilization,” he added.