New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS): India’s November steel imports was at an all-time high of 1.2 million tonnes for the data series available since CY06, Elara Securities said in a report.

CY23 YTD volume has reached a six-year high of 7.0mn tonnes. India has been a net steel importer for the third consecutive month in November. Thus, higher imports remain cause for concern for domestic steel prices, the report said.

However, steel prices in China have shown a positive trend in recent times, which should trim the price gap between India and imported steel products.

The absence of any major relief from elevated raw material prices should prompt steelmakers to sustain steel prices to safeguard profitability.

The World Steel Association (WSA) data shows global crude steel production saw a slight recovery of 1 per cent YoY to 150mn tonne in October, led by 3 per cent YoY rise in production for the rest of the world (ROW), even as China reported a fall of 2 per cent YoY.

On a monthly basis, production was slightly down, hit by 4 per cent MoM fall in China while ROW rose 4 per cent MoM.

India sustained its strong performance with double-digit production growth for the fifth straight month. In October, India’s crude steel production rose 15 per cent YoY and 3 per cent MoM.

As per provisional data, India’s crude steel production rose 13 per cent YoY but fell 3 per cent MoM in November, the report said.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)