India's finished steel consumption was up 3.5 percent to 5.6 million mt in April of the current year, compared to the 5.4 million mt recorded in the same month last year, according to provisional estimates released by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) which is part of the country's Indian Ministry of Steel. In the entire fiscal year 2012-13, Indian finished steel consumption had increased by 3.3 percent compared to the previous fiscal year, to 73.3 million mt.
According to the data, the country's finished steel production rose by 4.5 percent year on year to 6.4 million mt in April. Among the main producers, both state-owned steel producers SAIL and RINL recorded negative growth in output, while the finished steel output of Tata Steel rose 38.2 percent year on year to 601,000 mt.
In April, Indian finished steel imports were down 47.8 percent year on year to 350,000 mt, while the country's finished steel exports were up 44.4 percent year on year to 455,000 mt.