India's steel production grows by 1.7 per cent in August

New Delhi: India's steel production growth rate far outstripped the world average in August clocking a 5.2 per cent jump in August at 7.02 million tonnes (MT).

According to World Steel Association, global production rose by an average of 1.4 per cent in August to stand at 135 MT compared to the same month a year ago. While India's steel output growth was spectacular mainly due to higher production by major producers; global average remained subdued during the month primarily because of relatively lower production by China, the world's largest producer.

Even in July, Chinese steel production grew by 1.5 per cent. Reporting a mere one per cent growth, China produced 69 MT steel in August this year compared to 68.2 MT in the same month a year ago, WSA data revealed. However, for the January-August period, global average of the growth in steel production looked better at 2.4 per cent against India's average of 1.8 per cent.

During the eight-month period, world's steel production rose to 1,096 MT compared to India's production of around 56 MT. China produced 550 MT steel during the period. At the end of the eight months of current year, India's position remained static among major steel producing nations at the fourth slot preceded by China, Japan and the United States. For the last four years, India's position in the world steel order remain constant at the fourth slot. China's production growth rate during the first eight months was the highest at 2.6 per cent among the main steel producing nations.