Steel production impacted in Apr-Jun qtr due to second Covid wave: Minister

The country's steel output took a hit during the April-June period of 2021 due to the emergence of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Parliament was informed on Monday.

During the second wave of pandemic, the public and private sector steel plants together supplied 2,30,262 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) between April 1 to July 25, 2021, Union Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

As against 538 tonne of LMO supplied on April 1, 2021, the single day supply of LMO peaked to 4,749 MT on May 13, 2021, he said.

"The enhanced production of LMO (by steel players) by reducing usage of gaseous oxygen led to reduced production of steel by about 5,00,000 tonnes during the period April-June, 2021," the minister said.

According to information shared by Singh, Karnataka was supplied 44,107.79 tonne of LMO, Maharashtra received 30,310.85 tonne followed by Andhra Pradesh at 30,016.79 tonne and Telangana 17,178.21 tonne.

While West Bengal got 15,224.03 tonne LMO supply, Uttar Pradesh received 15080.2 tonne, Madhya Pradesh 11477.19 tonne, Tamil Nadu 10725.33 tonne, Haryana 8419.707 tonne, Gujarat 7,563.24 tonne and Jharkhand was supplied 6,137.571 tonne LMO.

States which received less than 5,000 tonne LMO are Bihar, Delhi, Assam, Kerala, Goa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttarakhand.