India Steel Imports in Apr to Sep Down by 36pct.

India's imports of finished steel dipped by over 35% to 2.88 million tonne in the April to September period of the current fiscal.

Mr Beni Prasad Verma steel minister informed the Lok Sabha that "The quantity of import has significantly reduced by 35.8% during April to September, 2011, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.”

During the April to September period of the current fiscal, India produced 34.86 million tonne of finished steel and consumption stood at 34.03 million tonne. Exports stood at 2.26 million tonne.

The minister said production of steel grew by 9.5% in the first six months of the current fiscal vis-a-vis the corresponding period last fiscal. Steel consumption, however, grew by only 2.8%.

During the 2010-11 fiscal, India imported 6.8 million tonne of finished steel, even though domestic production amounted to 66.01 million tonne and real consumption was 65.61 million tonne. However, India also exported 3.46 million tonne of finished steel during the financial year.

Mr Verma said that "A small quantity of import as well as export of various products of steel takes place, depending upon the specific requirements of individual companies.”

Source : steelguru.com