Steel consumption up by 8.1% in Apr-Nov

India's steel consumption rose by 8.1 per cent to 35.97 million tonnes in the April-November period of this fiscal over the same period a year ago on improved demand from automobile and consumer durables sector.

The steel consumption in the April-November 2008 stood at 33.27 million tonnes, according to the provisional data obtained from the Steel Ministry.

However, the domestic steel production rose only by 3 per cent to 38.57 million tonnes in the reporting period against 37.45 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

The deficit was met by 11 per cent increase in steel imports to 4.58 million tonnes and 39.4 per cent decline in exports to 1.78 million tonnes, as per the provisional data released by the ministry.

Leading steel producers like Tata Steel and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam reported 5.6 per cent growth to 3.25 million tonnes and 1.2 per cent increase to 1.86 million tonnes respectively in April-November period over the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

Steel Authority of India, however, reported 6.63 million tonnes production in the period, static as in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

As far as steel production for the month of November is concerned, it increased by 3.2 per cent to 5 million tonnes over the year-ago period. The consumption saw an increase by 7.6 per cent to 4.66 million tonnes as per the provisional data for the month as compared to November 2008.