China was the only country which recorded a 2.5% increase in production in 2020 over the previous year. In addition to China in the year 2020, there was a decline in the production of stainless steel in Europe, America, Asia and all other regions which were affected by the epidemic.
Symbolic picture.
According to data released by the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISDA), the production of stainless steel in India in the year 2020 was 1.7 lakh tonnes, which is 19% lower than the year 2019. India remained the second largest producer of stainless steel globally despite the lockdown implemented in the April – June period of 2020 due to the COVID epidemic, which put a stop to production in the country in the quarter.
In the year 2019, Indian stainless steel production was recorded at 39.3 lakh tonnes. The production and demand for stainless steel in India has improved in India from July 2020, after the government relaxed the lockdown, with the V-shape (a sharp correction after a sharp decline).
Increase in China’s production
According to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) based in Brussels, the production of stainless steel melts globally during the year 2020 declined by 2.5% to 5.09 million tonnes. With a production of 30 million tonnes, China accounted for more than 50% of the production of stainless steel globally and continues to be the leading manufacturer. Also, China remained the only country that recorded a 2.5% increase in production in 2020 over the previous year. In the year 2020, apart from China, there was a decline in stainless steel production in Europe, America, Asia and all other regions which were affected by the epidemic.
Government should pay attention
On this development, President of ISDA, KK Pahuja said, “Given the serious impact of the epidemic, the performance of the domestic stainless steel industry is justified. The continuous efforts of the industry, along with the encouragement of the government, helped gradually improve after the July 2020 period. Now as the economy is gaining momentum, the government should focus on sector-specific difficulties to provide policy incentives. The withdrawal of countervailing duty on imports from Indonesia and China may affect the current growth of the industry and dumping of stainless steel again this year. ”
Industry demands from the government
For immediate improvement in the Indian stainless steel industry, ISDA has appealed to the government to encourage local manufacturing and strengthen the industry by curbing unwanted imports in the country. ISDA fears that there may be a glut of stainless steel imports in the COVID epidemic-hit domestic industry. India is a large and lucrative market, and China and Indonesia are suspected of aggressively dumping after the import duty was postponed. If this happens, unemployment may increase in this industry which suffers from excessive imports, especially in the MSME sector which contributes one-third of the total industry.
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