According to the Ministry of Steel, in the month of June the country's crude steel production stood at 6.8 million tonne (MT), and has started showing signs of improvement. The production was 17.7 percent higher than May, 2020 at 6.8 MT. But however, a year-on-year basis, it was lower by 27.2 percent over June 2019.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic which has caused nationwide lockdown, there was a certain halt in the economic activities across the country. But, as the day passes, it is slowly showing signs of improvement from May 2020.
The ministry also said that the output of steel is gaining good traction with a consistent improvement with the steady ease of lockdown across the country.
The production of finished steel in the month of June stood at 5.9 MT and rose with 15.6 percent compared to 5.1 MT in May 2020. But, if we see the out of the finished steel in May 2020 was lower by 33.3 percent, said the ministry.
The ministry said, "This was reflected in the performance of eight core industries (with a weight of 40.27 per cent in IIP) which was against a decline of 37 per cent in April 2020 registered a decline of 23.4 per cent in the month of May 2020. Similarly the Index of steel production which fell sharply by 83.9 per cent in April 2020 registered a decline of 48.4 per cent in May 2020."
It has also stated, "BSE Sensex and BSE Metal Indices registered an increase of 6.1 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively, in the month of June, 2020 indicating recovery after lockdown."
On a month-on-month basis till June 2020, the retail prices of CRC, rebar and HRC increased by 1.69 per cent, 2.17 per cent and 1.43 per cent, respectively. This rise can be directly attributed to the increasing exports during the month of June and also the steady easing of the lockdown in a phased manner.
The ministry has also stated that in order to identify and address the challenges in terms of adopting domestic steel products will be an utmost necessity along with the increase in the production of steel and its consumption.