Steel output grows 5% in Jan-Jun; trend to continue in 2nd half: SteelMint

India has produced 66.14 MT crude steel in January-June 2023, registering a 5 per cent year-on-year growth and the uptrend is likely to continue in second half of the year as well, according to SteelMint.

The domestic industry had produced 63 million tonnes (MT) crude steel in the January-June period of 2022, the research firm said.

The increase in production was mainly on account of improved capacity utilisation rates coupled with the ramping up of capacities by key Indian steel players, it said.

According to SteelMint these factors will continue to support the growth in production in the second half of the ongoing year, SteelMint added.

The domestic steel consumption also registered an 11 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase to 58.4 MT in the first half of 2023, from 52.7 MT in the same period of 2022.

Steel exports took a hit of 30 per cent during the period under review, as China increased its outbound shipments of steel.

"India's steel exports dropped to 4.74 MT in H1 from 6.70 MT recorded in the first half of 2022. The reason behind the drop in exports was majorly because of the cheaper availability from China and subdued demand in traditional import markets," SteelMint said.

China's home demand had not been up to the mark. Therefore, it had no other way to liquidate the inventory rather than to divert it to exports at discounted rates, the research firm said.

After China, India is the second largest steel producing country in the world.