Steel Use May Have Marginally Grown In Apr-Sep On Weak Demand

　　Stagnant demand and cheaper importsmay have resultedin a marginal growth in consumption of steel in the first six months of thecurrent fiscal.

　　"The country's steel consumption could grow marginally by about 0.5 percent in the April-September period of the current fiscal," an officialsaid.

　　The development comes close on the heels of domestic producers for the firsttime in the current fiscal pruning their prices by up to Rs 750 per tonne dueto stagnant demand amid higher supplies.

　　"We have lowered the price by up to Rs 750 a tonne for the current monthresulting in the price of Hot Rolled Coil coming around Rs 36,000 pertonne," said an official of a private sector steel maker.

　　Hot Rolled Coil (HRC) is regarded as the benchmark steel product. As onSeptember-end last year, the price of HRC was around Rs 38,000 per tonne.

　　The primary factors which acted as catalysts for pruning price are stagnantdemand, higher domestic production as well as cheaper imports from Chinaand drop in exports,the official said.

　　Continuing with subdued consumption trend for the past couple of years, India'ssteel consumption grew by just 0.3 per cent to 31.17 million tonnes during theApril-August period of 2014-15.

　　Imports have also gone up significantly in recent times for both flat and longproducts mainly from Japan, Korea and China. Construction sector accounts foraround 60 per cent of the country's total steel consumption while automobilesector consumes 15 per cent.

　　While imports of flat products, used in automotive and consumer durablessectors, from Japan and Korea were on the rise for quite some time now, anunprecedented rise in imports of long products, used in construction sector,have also been noticed for some time now.

　　An official from a state-run PSU said that higher imports at lower prices fromChina has resulted in reduction of prices by it.

　　During the April-August period of the current fiscal, imports have gone up by awhopping 20.7 per cent to a little over 3 million tonnes, while exports havecome down by 8.8 per cent to 2.3 million tonnes.

　　Industrial production growth remained subdued at five-month low of 0.4 per centin August, prompting the industry to pitch for bold reforms to spur theeconomy.

　　As per World Steel Association, India's steel demand is expected to grow 3.4per cent this year.