| Abstract Scope |
Year 2007 was one of the most exciting periods in the history of Indian steel industry; the capacity utilization was more than 85%, with a production of 53 MT of finished steel, corresponding to 7% growth over 2006 and the profitability had reached a peak. However, in 2008, due to the unprecedented global economic meltdown, it mustered only a marginal growth of 3.7%. Consumption had declined, in fact, from July 2008 onwards. To de-stock the inventory, integrated steel producers had announced up to 30 % production cut from the beginning of November 2008. Most interestingly, though, the year 2009 was a year of great resilience and recovery for the Indian steel industry. The expansion projects bounced back on track and production ramp-up started from as early as March. India moved to third position in the world steel production arena, after China and Japan, during the first six months of the year 2009. Indian steel industry took gainful advantage of the price correction in iron ore, coke and freight and this helped in reducing the per ton cost of production by about 30% from September 2009. The events of the last few months in fact suggest that Indian steel producers were, on the whole, better equipped to deal with market turbulence due to relatively stronger domestic demand, their competitive position in respect of cost of production, primarily on account of higher levels of capacity utilization, and growing competence of human resource working in the industrial sector in India. In this paper a forecast of the Indian steel industry in the coming five years will also be presented. |