India poised to be 3rd largest steel producer: Minister
The Per capital steel consumption in India is still very low, about 60 kg compared to the global average of about 217 kg per capital“India is on its way to be the world’s third largest crude steel producing country surpassing USA,” said the Minister of Mines & Steel Narendra Singh Tomar. Expressing concern over challenges faced by the Indian steel producers, the minister said that the metal produced in China is sometimes sold at below the production cost. “Chinese steel industry continues to produce and sell steel at extremely low prices and sometimes even below cost of production,” he said, adding, “The attention of countries like China, Japan and South Korea is sharply focused on the Indian market.” With a lot of capacity added in the last decade or so, especially in China, and steel demand either falling or remaining stagnant in most countries, the industry is burdened with massive excess capacity, estimated to be around 550 million tonnes, which is about 25% of the global capacity. The minister was speaking at a Consultative Committee meeting on ‘Challenges in Steel Sector’ and ‘Reforms in Mining sector’ held in New Delhi on Monday. He said that the per capital steel consumption in India is still very low, about 60 kg compared to the global average of about 217 kg per capital. On the other hand, import burden has increased by 75.5% in the last financial year. During April to September 2015, the import of the metal has increased by about 42% year-on-year. Besides, the domestic steel prices have maintained a sharp downward trend during the period and the rising debt is also a major concern. He also acknowledged that the net sales realisation of steel companies is decreasing due to declining prices of steel products, leading to financial strain. However, he said, with anticipated growth in the economy, government initiatives like Make in India and increased investment in infrastructure, the future growth of Indian steel sector is expected to be positive and the government has set the target of nearly trebling the country’s steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2025.
November 24, 2015 |2:50pm IST
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