New Delhi: India's steel consumption grew by a mere 0.7 percent during the first quarter of current fiscal to 18.82 million tonnes (MT).
The country had consumed 18.69 MT steel in the April-June quarter of last fiscal, showed data compiled by Joint Plant Committee (JPC), a body under the Steel Ministry.
In recent months, the rate of growth in consumption was the fastest at 3.4 percent in April. It was 0.3 percent in May and 0.9 percent in June.
Production of finished steel grew by 1.5 percent during the period at 21.86 MT over the same period last year. SAIL, RINL, Tata Steel and other major players cumulatively produced 11.34 MT clocking a growth of just two percent, the JPC said.
Contribution of mini and small firms' production rose by 0.3 percent during the period.
India, which became a net exporter of steel in recent times, exported 1.34 MT of finished steel during April-June period clocking a 18.5 percent growth over a year ago.
Imports also went up. During the period, India's import of finished steel saw a growth of 11.8 percent to 1.49 MT.
India's steel consumption grew by just 0.6 percent in the 2013-14 fiscal, the slowest in at least four years, to 73.93 MT. Exports grew by 4.1 percent at 5.59 MT, while imports were down by 31.3 percent during the period 5.445 MT.
India is the fourth largest steel maker in the world with 81 MT of production in last year. The sector contributes about two percent of the country's GDP and employs over six lakh people.
The Steel Ministry estimates that the country's consumption may go up to 176 MT by 2025-26 if the economy grows by 6.5 percent during the period between now and 2025-26.
