SAIL records 12% growth in May sales

Steel giant SAIL today said its domestic sales have increased by 12 per cent to about a million tonnes for May over the year-ago period.

"In May 2009, Steel Authority of India (SAIL)recorded best-ever monthly sales in the domestic market of about one million tonnes, which is higher by 12 per cent over May 2008," the company said in a statement here today.

With this, the steel company said, its domestic steel sales during the first two months of the current financial year stood at about 1.9 million tonnes, which is 21 per cent higher than the same period last year.

"The revival in steel demand began in Q4 and trends in the current quarter are also encouraging. With a major boost to infrastructure building in the offing, we expect steel demand in the country to grow further in the current financial year," SAIL Chairman S K Roongta had last week said, while announcing its quarterly financial results.

Roongta anticipated improvement in the sales of the commodity in the domestic market in the coming quarters.

Moreover, SAIL added that its production of saleable steel has grown by 5 per cent to 1.1 million tonnes in May against the corresponding period last year.

Production of special steel items and high value-added products went up by 12 per cent to about 4 lakh tonnes during the month, the statement said.