India’s crude steel production in March declined by 20pc to 8.03mn mt from a year ago and finished steel production dipped by 23.7pc to 7.09mn mt amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to provisional official data. Most steelmakers in India scaled-down production to combat the virus and to adjust with weak downstream consumer demand.
| India’s steel production in March | |||
| Production (000’ mt) | March 2020 | March 2019 | Change (%) |
| Crude Steel | 8,038 | 10,042 | -20 |
| Hot Metal | 6,056 | 6,677 | -9.3 |
| Finished Steel | 7,091 | 9,293 | -23.7 |
| Pig Iron | 359 | 5,70 | -37 |
| Sponge Iron | 2,533 | 2,994 | -15.4 |
| Pellets | 4,885 | 5,661 | -13.7 |
Steel imports were also impacted by the pandemic. In March, India imported 31,000mt of semis, down 40pc, while finished steel imports were at 376,000mt down by 46.7pc from a year ago.
India’s steel exports remained resilient in March. Semi-finished steel exports increased marginally by 2.78pc to 185,000mt, while exports of finished steel dropped by 3.18pc to 573,000mt compared to March 2019.
For the full year, India was a net exporter of finished steel with exports of 8.35mn mt, up by 31.4pc, while imports were 6.768mn mt, down by 13.6pc. Total crude steel production was 109.21mn mt, down by 1.5pc from a year ago.