Posted on 11 Apr 2019
India’s steel consumption is poised to cross the psychological 100-million tonne mark in 2019, a forecast by Indian Steel Association an industry body comprising domestic steel producers has said.
The consumption growth is tipped to be driven by a expected 7.1% growth in domestic steel demand in calendar year 2019 , the ISA said adding that demand is likely to grow marginally in the next calendar year 2020 by 7.2%. For financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21, however, the forecast for steel demand growth is 7.2%.
"Consumption growth is expected to improve driven by measures for farmers, unorganized sector and government employees. Cumulatively, the Indian economy is likely to maintain above 7% growth in next couple of years," the statement said.
While the economy witnessed a strong growth of above 8% during first half of 2018, it slowed down in the second half of 2018, primarily due to the weaker rural sector. In addition, high oil prices combined with a weakening rupee dampened the demand in general.
Investment driven sectors such as construction, capital goods & Railways are likely to maintain the healthy growth momentum driven by infrastructure projects such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Railway track electrification, dedicated freight corridors, metro rails, etc.
In addition, while, reduction in GST rates will support the real estate demand, ongoing capacity additions in renewable energy segment would continue to boost the electrical equipment demand. Construction sector growth is estimated to be at 6.8-7.2% in the next couple of years, whereas Capital Goods & Railways sectors are projected to grow by 6.4-6.8% and 6-6.5% respectively for the same period.
