India’s crude steel production increased to approximately 8.5mn mt in July, up by 3.9pc from June and up by 11.9pc from the prior year. Production rose from a lower base as steelmaking in July last year was slowly recovering from the impact of a strict COVID-19 lockdown.
According to official data, finished steel production rose to approximately 7.48mn mt in July, up by 10.6pc from the prior year and up 2.8pc from June. While consumption of finished steel increased by 7.3pc from the prior year and up by 0.7pc from June.
Consumption and net exports combined were higher than production in July, which led to the absorption of steel inventories. The closing stock of finished steel at July end was 7.70mn mt, which is 4.4pc lower than June and 39.8pc lower than July 2020.
Exports/Imports
Exports of finished steel have recovered from May onwards. In July exports and imports of finished steel increased by 9.9pc and 39.6pc from a year ago, respectively. While from June, exports and imports of finished steel grew by 10.5pc and 2.1pc, respectively. The country was a net exporter with a net trade surplus of 1.10mn mt.
Among export destinations, the share of exports to Belgium increased to 14pc from 1pc in July 2020, and exports to Italy rose to 12pc from 5pc. Exports to Singapore, Turkey, and UAE also improved during the month compared to July 2020. While the share of exports to Vietnam fell to 10pc from 31pc and to Spain fell from 6pc to 4pc in July.
India imports from Korea in July 2021 grew to 44pc from 31pc from July 2020, the share of imports from Taiwan and Indonesia also increased in the month. While the steel imports from China, Japan, Germany and Vietnam decline in July 2021 compared to July 2020.