Crude steel output up 5.4% in January-July

New Delhi: India's crude steel output increased by 5.4 per cent to 61.8 million tonnes (MT) in the first seven month of the calendar year 2018, according to World Steel Association.

The country had produced 58.6 MT of crude steel in the January-July period of 2017, the association said in a statement.

India's crude steel production in July increased by 8.4 per cent to 9 MT, over 8.3 MT in July 2017, the release said.

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was at 154.6 MT in July, registering an increase of 5.8 per cent when compared to July 2017.

China's crude steel production for July was at 81.2 MT, registering an increase of 7.2 per cent when compared to July 2017.

Japan produced 8.4 MT of crude steel last month, down by 2 per cent when compared to July 2017.

The government had earlier said that India's crude steel output is expected to soar by 38 per cent to 140 MT by the end of this year.

The country produced 101.4 MT steel in 2017.

The steel ministry had earlier asked industry players to make full use of the resources available in the country to increase steel output.

Under the National Steel Policy (NSP), the government has set a production target of 300 MT by 2030-31. The NSP also aims at more than doubling the per capita steel consumption to 158 kg by 2030-31, from 70 kg at present.