India’s steel consumption rose 4.5% to 80.45 million tons (mt) in 2015-16, compared to 76.99 mt in the same period last year, latest provisional steel ministry data showed.
The country’s imports rose 25.7% to 11.71 mt in FY16, from 9.32 mt last year on cheap inflows from China, Japan and Korea.
India’s exports fell 27.1% to 4.07 mt in FY16 from 5.59 mt in the same period a year ago owing to overcapacity in the international markets.
Finished steel production fell 1.9% in FY16 to 90.39 mt, down from 92.15 mt in the same period last year as producer’s resorted to production cuts to counter slow demand and cheap imports.
The country’s crude steel production rose 0.9% in FY16 to 89.77 mt, up from 88.98 mt in the same period last year.
India, a major producer of sponge iron, also witnessed 20.1% de-growth in DRI production to 16.28 mt in FY16 as against 20.37 mt owing to sluggish market conditions.