NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): On the heels of higher demand from automobile and consumer durables sectors, India’s domestic steel consumption registered surge of 5.7% to 26.49 million tonnes in the first half of current fiscal.

According to the data compiled by the Steel Ministry, as against 25.07 million tonnes in the previous year during April to September, steel consumption went up to 26.49 million tonnes on the same period current fiscal.

Meanwhile, India’s steel production constituted at 28.49 million tonnes during the period from the 27.93 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

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The deficit was met by one per cent increase in steel imports to 3.22 million tonnes and 43% decline in exports to 1.34 million tonnes, the Steel Secretary, P.K. Rastogi, said.

He said the steel consumption during the first half of fiscal was encouraging and it is likely to improve further in the coming months. However, the consumption in September was poor as compared to previous months, he said, adding that was temporary phenomena.