India Leading Steel Producing Country In The World

India’s stainless steel production to rise

The growth is in response to the rising demand for stainless steel, mainly from sectors such as auto, roads and highways, housing and the like, the industry veteran said, adding that the demand will keep rising every year. The government had removed the import duty on nickel, a key material required to produce stainless steel. Now, the steel ministry wants the import duty on ferro-nickel and stainless steel scrap to be removed. This will further bring down the production cost of stainless steel in the country. the domestic stainless industry is expected to produce close to 4 million tonnes. India is the second-largest producer of stainless steel after it overtook Japan, China remains the leader.

STAINLESS STEELS Rising demand from auto, roads and highways, and real estate sectors seen propelling stainless steel production.

The development of CrMn steels in India was triggered by high nickel prices and a lack of domestic availability. Producers of household utensils were searching for a low cost alternative to make stainless steel affordable for the mass market. The long term perspectives for India remain positive. India has been increasingly shifting focus from volume- to value-based production in the past few years. Stimulated by recent lower nickel prices, the country is producing today more 300 series and less low quality 200 and has an increasing share of high quality production than before. Stainless steel demand has also been growing to nearly 4 million tonnes in India, making India the second largest market in the world behind China. India might not experience the Chinese exorbitant growth of the recent years, but it is set out to continue its rapid development supported by industrialization, urbanization and a “Make in India” economic policy.

STAINLESS STEELS leads the wave of value addition in the steel industry

It was a year for steel. In 2017, India crossed the 100 million tonne (MT) mark in crude steel production. As for stainless steel, the country secured the second largest producer tag, next only to China. Stainless steel production in the country touched 3.6 MT during the year, registering an annual growth rate of 10 per cent. The consumption of stainless steel in a country is organically linked to its economic development. Going by India's GDP growth rate, and the fact that our per capita consumption of stainless steel is 2 kg as against the world average of 6 kg, it is evident that stainless steel has ample scope for growth. In the age of constant value addition coupled with environment consciousness, stainless steel is the most practical and optimal choice among all materials. Throughout history, humans have been hungry for improvement. From cars to homes to public utilities, we want everything to be aesthetic and efficient. This ever-rising public aspiration in all spheres of life is the inflection point that the stainless steel industry has been looking forward to. Because stainless steel is a metal that can cater to varied present and future needs. Unlike other alternatives including carbon steel, cement, plastics, glass, and aluminium composites, stainless steel is non-corrosive and self-repairing by its inherent nature. This validates why there has been a major transformation in the end use profile of stainless steel over the last few decades.

India’s stainless steel production

India overtook Japan to become the second-largest steel producer in the world. India’s stainless steel production rose to 3.32 million tons for 2016 showing an impressive growth of about 9% over 3.0 million tons achieved in 2015. Several government initiatives like ‘Make in India’, smart cities, focus on improving sanitation & waste management facilities, building new infrastructure are is likely to give a strong push to the stainless-steel industry in future. Increase in exports of stainless steel from India to the world market especially Europe and Americas has established Indian producers capable of producing quality material from their latest state of the art mills meeting stringent quality parameters. India is investing massively in infrastructure and could be a key driver of global steel production over the next decade. However, the country still has a long way to go to challenge China.