India's finished steel exports fall by 14.9% m-o-m in May'24: JPC

• Crude steel, finished steel production increase m-o-m
  
  
• Finished steel consumption increases m-o-m
  
  

In May 2024, India's finished steel exports declined by 14.9% m-o-m to reach 0.430 million tonnes(mnt), compared to April's 0.0505 mnt. Exports y-o-y increased by 38% from 0.693 mnt recorded in March in the previous year, as per provisional data released by the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) under the Ministry of Steel. The fall can be attributed to mills focusing on domestic market for better realisation on weaker global demand.

The cumulative export volume for April-May 2024 fell by 39.6% y-o-y to 0.935 mnt compared to 1.548 mnt in the same period a year ago.

Finished steel imports see decline m-o-m

Finished steel imports into India experienced a fall of 5.3% m-o-m to 0.554 mnt in May 2024 as compared to 0.585 mnt in April 2024. However, imports rose by 12.8% y-o-y from 0.491 mnt in May 2023.

In April-May 2024, imports increased by 19.8% y-o-y to 1.139 mnt against 0.951 mnt in the same period last year.

Crude steel production increases m-o-m

Crude steel production increased by 3.9% m-o-m from 12.531 mnt in May 2024 to 12.060 mnt in April 2024. Moreover, production displayed y-o-y growth of 6.2%, surpassing 11.802 mnt produced in May 2023. For the period of April-May 2024, cumulative crude steel output remained positive, registering a 4.9% y-o-y increase. Production reached 24.591 mnt in the said period against 23.443 mnt in the same period previous year.

Finished steel production increases m-o-m

India's finished steel production experienced an increase by 4.1% m-o-m to 12.131 mnt in May 2024 as compared to 11.659 mnt in April 2024, while maintaining robust growth y-o-y of 7.2%, surpassing 11.316 mnt produced in March 2023.

For the period April-May 2024, cumulative finished steel production registered a significant 6.4% y-o-y increase. Production reached 23.789 mnt, compared to 22.369 mnt in the same period of the previous year.

Finished steel consumption rises m-o-m

India's finished steel consumption rose by 8.1% in May 2024, reaching 11.968 mnt from 11.067 mnt in April 2024. On a y-o-y basis, consumption grew by 11.6% compared to 10.728 mnt in May 2023. The automobile industry as well is providing better prospects for demand alongside the fabrication (commercial furniture) industry and white goods sector, noted a market participant.

This strong performance extended to the cumulative period of April-May 2024, where total finished steel consumption climbed to 23.035 mnt, a 10.5% increase from 20.850 mnt recorded during the same period in the previous year.