India's steel use bucks global slump to rise 15% in first half

Infrastructure thrust drives consumption growth; steel production rises 13.6% in Hl

- Subhash Narayan Oliven

Domestic steel consumption grew strongly in the first half of the financial year in a clear signal that Indian manufacturing continues on a robust growth path despite global headwinds.

According to the latest steel ministry data, steel consumption in the April-September period of FY24 grew 15% to 64 million tonnes from the year-ago period. In H1 of FY23 too, steel consumption was robust, growing 11.5% to 55 mt rising from 49.7 mt in H1 FY21 when the country was in the grip of second wave of the covid-19 pandemic.

“Backed by government of India’s robust infrastructure programme, India’s estimated per capita steel consumption has jumped to 87 kg per capita in FY23 from 77 kg per capita in FY22," steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha told Mint earlier.

He said steel consumption also grew strongly by 13% YoY to 119.9m. The World Steel Association projected in April that Indian steel demand is expected to show a healthy growth of 7.3% in 2023 and 6.2% in 2024.