New Delhi, May 6 () India's total export of finished steel increased by 16.7 per cent to 9.621 million tonnes (MT) in 2017-18, according to an official data.
The country had exported 8.242 MT finished steel during 2016-17 fiscal, the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) said in a report.
"Export of total finished steel was up by 16.7 per cent in April-March 2017-18 at 9.621 MT over same period of last year, in which contribution of the non-alloy steel segment stood at 8.727 MT, while the rest was the contribution of the alloy steel segment including stainless steel," the JPC report said.
Empowered by Ministry of Steel, JPC is the only institution which collects data on the Indian iron and steel industry.
In March 2018, the overall export fell sharply by 56.3 per cent to 0.708 MT from 1.621 MT during the same month a year ago.
The import has also registered a rise during the last fiscal, the figures show.
Import of total finished steel rose by 3.5 per cent to 7.482 MT in FY18 compared to 7.226 MT in the preceding fiscal.
However, the overall import during March fell by 19.7 per cent to 0.482 MT as against 0.600 MT during the same month in 2017.
"Import of total finished steel was at 7.482 mt in April-March 2017-18, up by 3.5 per cent over same period of last year, in which contribution of the non-alloy steel segment stood at 5.636 MT, while the rest was the contribution of the alloy steel segment, including stainless steel," the JPC said.
India's total production of finished steel during the just concluded fiscal grew 3.1 per cent to 104.966 MT.
"The production for sale of total finished steel at 104.966 MT, registered a growth of 3.1 per cent during April-March 2017-18 over same period of last year, in which contribution of the non-alloy steel segment stood at 95.004 MT, while the rest was the contribution of the alloy steel segment including stainless steel," the report.
State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) along with private players Tata Steel, Essar Steel, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd produced 62.626 MT during 2017-18.
The rest came from the other producers, JPC added.
"Overall production for sale of total finished steel in March 2018 (9.649 MT) was up by 5.7 per cent over March 2017," it said.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com