Finished steel consumption grown 9.4%: Virbhadra Singh

Kolkata : Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said the finished steel consumption in the country has grown by 9.4% during April-August.

However during the same period production grow only by 2.6%.

?This imbalance may not be allowed to continue,? the Minister said addressing a seminar on “Raw Material Security for the Steel Industry – Challenges Ahead” organized by The Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India, here on Saturday.

He emphasized on the need for conservation of available resources and said exports have to be slowed down.

Singh said the government has taken policy measures to discourage avoidable exports and raise domestic availability by increasing export duty on lump ores to 15 percent and having that 5 percent for fines.

The Minister further said that preservation of ecology was as important as economic growth.

He said the country’s coking coal reserves were limited and the quality of whatever it has is not up to the mark.

?Raw material security to the capital intensive steel plants can be provided by captive ownership only,? the Minister said.