India's steel demand recovers 8% to 7.5 million tonnes in August

India's finished steel consumption is recovering gradually after witnessing 85 per cent YoY decline in April 2020. Steel consumption improved 8 per cent on month-on-month (MoM) to 7.5mt in August.

Crude steel production has also been improving in line with domestic demand following 64 per cent YoY decline to 3.1mt in April 2020. It improved by 5 per cent MoM to 8.5mt in August 2020 and was down just 4 per cent YoY, supported by higher exports.

Imports fell by 44.8 per cent during August as compared to July. India imported 162 thousand tonnes of finished steel in August as against 293 thousand tonnes steel in July 2020. On a yearly basis, imports fell by more than 400 per cent in August 2020.

India's finished steel exports jumped 172 per cent in June 2020 compared to February 2020 (pre-COVID) mainly due to increased exports to China. Exports which had peaked in June 2020 started to slide sequentially from July onwards. Exports have been lower sequentially in July and August 2020 declining by 24.5 per cent in August as compared to July.