India's per capita steel use at 57.8 kg in 2013

Average per capita steel consumption globally was 225.2 kg last year: WSA

India's per capita steel consumption last year stood at 57.8 kg, lower than the smaller economies such Venezuela and Egypt and nearly one-fourth of the global average.

According to a World Steel Association (WSA) publication, average per capita steel consumption globally was 225.2 kg last year.

Venezuela and Egypt had higher average at 93.3 kg and 88.9 kg respectively in 2013. Among the larger economies, China's per capita consumption last year was 515.1 kg compared to 487.6 kg a year earlier.

India's per capita steel use has always been in the range between 43.9 kg and 57.5 kg since 2007. The growth over 2012 in 2013 is just 300 gm.

India's steel consumption grew by just 0.6% in 2013-14 fiscal, its lowest in four years, to 73.93 million tonne (MT), mainly impacted by a slower expansion of the domestic economy and lower imports.

"The low growth rate in domestic steel consumption indicated that base level demand conditions continued to be weak during 2013-14," Joint Plant Committee (JPC), a unit of the Steel Ministry had earlier said.

The construction sector accounts for around 60% of the country's total steel demand, while the automobile industry consumes 15%.

Both the sectors were plagued by a slowdown in economy which according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) grew by 4.7% in 2013-14 and at 4.6% in the fourth quarter of the financial year.

However, India remained the fourth largest steel maker in the world for the fourth year in a row with an output of 81.2 million tonne in 2013.

World crude steel production reached 1,606 MT for 2013, up by 3.5% compared to 2012. The growth came mainly from Asia and the Middle East while crude steel production in all other regions decreased in 2013 compared to 2012.