India's Crude Steel Output Declines 14 Per Cent to 8.65 MT in March: World Steel Association

New Delhi: The country's crude steel output declined 14 per cent to 8.65 million tonne (MT) during March, according to a report by the World Steel Association.

India has been observing a nationwide lockdown since March 25, which has impacted production, demand and supplies of steel in the country. The country had produced 10.04 MT of crude steel during the same month a year ago, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said in its latest report.

In March 2020, the global steel output was also down by 6 per cent to 147.05 MT as compared with 156.51 MT in March 2019. The global industry body said, "Due to the ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of this month's (March) figures are estimates from national and regional associations, which may be revised with the next month's production update."

Global steel giant China also, for the first time in many months, has reported a fall in its output. The country, which has a sizeable share in global output, produced 78.97 MT steel in March, down 1.7 per cent as compared with 80.34 MT in the corresponding month of 2019, according to data from the report.

"India estimates 8.65 MT of crude steel production in March 2020, down 13.9 per cent from 10.042 MT in March 2019," it said. In March, the United States produced 7.22 MT of crude steel, registering a fall of of 6 per cent as compared with 6.68 MT in year-ago month.

Japan estimates 8.20 MT of crude steel production in March 2020, down 9.7 per cent from 9.08 MT in March 2019. South Korea produced 5.77 MT crude steel, down 7.9 per cent from 6.27 MT in March 2019.

In the EU, worldsteel said Germany estimated 2.9 MT of crude steel production in March 2020, down 20.9 per cent in March 2019. Italy produced 1.4 MT of crude steel in March 2020, down by 40.2 per cent on March 2019.

France estimates 1.2 MT of crude steel production in March 2020, a 13.2 per cent decrease compared to March 2019. Spain produced 1.2 MT of crude steel in March 2020, down 14 per cent on March 2019.

"Russia estimates 5.9 MT of crude steel production in March 2020. Ukraine produced 1.8 MT of crude steel, Brazil produced 2.6 MT, Turkey's crude steel production for March 2020 was 3.1 MT," it said.