Indian production rises in April-July period

Indian production rises in April-July period

During the April-July 2003 period, the first four months of the country's fiscal year, Indian finished steel production grew by 7.3% over the same period 2002 to 11.3 million tons, as per the government statistics. Meanwhile, the production of structural steel increased by 34.6% to 1.1 million tons, plates by 16.4% to 640'000 tons, hot rolled coils by 7.7% to 2.8 million tons, cold rolled sheets by 6.9% to 1.6 million tons and bars by 1.7% to 3.6 million tons. However, hot rolled sheet production decreased by 11.4% to 155'000 tons while galvanized products dropped by 2.2% to 803'000 tons. Between April and July, apparent consumption reached 9.8 million tons, up by 3.3%. In the same period, Indian finished steel exports amounted to 1.2 million tons which represents 36.8% increase compared to same period last year. Also, imports increased 7.8% to 550'000 tons.