India steel output grows 9% MoM in Mar amid positive macro-economic indicators

India's steel industry staged a recovery in March compared to the downtrend in February, with relevant macro-economic indicators showing an improvement m-o-m. Crude steel production increased m-o-m in March, and so did coal and iron ore output. Parallelly, the manufacturing segment strengthened, as evidenced by an uptick in the purchasing managers' index (PMI), automobile sales, and merchandise exports.

Crude steel production up on demand surge Crude steel production grew 9% m-o-m to 13.8 million tonnes (mnt) in March compared to 12.7 mnt in February. March witnessed a surge in demand, buoyed by increased government spending and accelerating construction activity, especially as project deadlines approached ahead of fiscal year