ADVERTISEMENT

India Set for Record Steel Demand as Construction to Revive

India’s steel consumption is set to break records in 2021, reversing the performance in 2020 as economy revives from covid hit.

India Set for Record Steel Demand as Construction to Revive
Sparks fly as a worker grinds the edge of a steel tube at the finishing line at a steel plant. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

India’s steel consumption is set to break records this year, reversing the performance in 2020 when demand crashed as the pandemic upended economic activity.

Economic activity in the country has revived as a deadly second wave of infections abates. The International Monetary Fund expects India to grow 9.5% this year. That’s in contrast to last year, when the economy tipped into an unprecedented 7.3% contraction, as a nationwide lockdown brought the country to a standstill.

Demand for steel is expected to surge 17% to 110 million tons in the year started April, according to Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director of JSW Steel Ltd. Consumption of steel in 2020 fell year-on-year for the first time in at least a decade-and-a-half.

Rising power consumption and mining activity, along with higher tractor and passenger vehicles sales is pushing up demand for the metal, Rao said in an interview.

“We have seen a good revival in the month of June and July,” he said. “Construction demand will also pick up after the festive season.”

Shares of Indian steelmakers jumped on Thursday. JSW Steel advanced 3.3% at 1:22 p.m. in Mumbai, and was heading for the highest close since May 10. Rivals Tata Steel Ltd. rose 5.4% and Steel Authority of India Ltd. increased 4.6%.

Demand Revival

ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd. said on Thursday that domestic demand showed signs of revival toward the end of the last quarter, particularly from the automotive, white goods and infrastructure sectors.

The higher local demand is likely to impact exports, which jumped to 17 million tons last year. Shipments will fall slightly below that level this year as steelmakers divert more supply to meet local demand, Rao said. JSW’s exports will remain steady at the 4 million tons shipped last year, he said.

JSW Steel, which reported its best quarterly profit in the three months through June, said higher volumes and growing local demand are helping the company offset rising input prices.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.