Even indigenous demand is picking up as many industries are showing a recovery. The construction sector is showing higher demand for long products. All this is good news. India is among the high growth countries in steel use—against a world average of 1-1.5 per cent, demand here has grown by nearly 4.5 per cent even in depressed conditions. We hope to have a busy period. But how long the uptrend in consumption and prices will last is difficult to predict. Of late, growth curves have been smaller.
But globally, a number of initiatives are being taken to eliminate market distortions and even shut down excess steel capacity, to assist fair operation of the market. We thus hope the trend will be sustained. At home too new initiatives like promotion of steel in the rural sector brighten the mid-term prospects.
