Crude steel output grows 3.5% in Nov

New Delhi: Even before the start of the new year, the Indian steel sector has regained its lost shine registering a growth of 3.5 per cent in crude steel production in November.

According to data provided by World Steel Association, country's crude steel production stood at 9.245 million tonnes (MT) in November, as against 8.933 MT during the same month last year indicating a big pickup in economic activity post the pandemic pushed lockdowns.

A pick in steel production is also an indicator of growth seen in the infrastructure sector where a lot of projects are being pushed by the government to bring back the economy to normalcy.

In its latest report, the WSA has also shown that the steel industry is not only on the recovery the path in India, but the developments here is part of a larger global recovery with crude steel production rising in almost 64 major economies. On the positive side, the association had indicated that the numbers of November were estimates and it may be revised upwards once next month's numbers are presented. India became the world's second-largest producer of crude steel in 2019, producing 111.245 million tonnes (MT) crude steel in the January-December period with growth rate 1.8 per cent over the corresponding period last year (CPLY). Capacity for domestic crude steel production expanded from 109.85 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in 2014-15 to 142.24 MTPA in 2018-19, Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8 per cent during this five-year period.