Question : Demand and Supply of Iron Ore and Steel

(a) the total quantity of iron ores and steel produced during the last three years and the current year along with per capita consumption of steel in the country;
(b) the estimated demand and supply of iron ores and steel for public and private sectors separately in the next three years;
(c) the steps taken / proposed to be taken by the Government to meet the estimated demand of the same;
(d) whether there has been an increase in import of iron ores during the last three years and the current year and if so, the details thereof;
(e) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(f) whether the cost of steel in the country is more in comparison to that in other steel producing countries and if so, the reasons therefor along with the efforts made by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF STEEL (SHRI RAM CHANDRA PRASAD SINGH)

(a) The total quantity of iron ore and steel produced during the last three years and the current year along with per capita consumption of steel in the country are as follows:-

Items 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Iron Ore (in MT) 206.49 246.08 204.28 46.56*
Crude Steel (in MT) 110.92 109.14 103.54 27.80**
Consumption of Steel (in Kg) 74.4 74.7 70.0 ---
[MT = Million tonnes, Kg = Kilograms, *April-May, 2021, **April-June, 2021]
[Source: IBM/JPC]

(b) The estimated production and capacity of crude steel and estimated demand and supply of iron ore in the country for the current year and next three years are as follows:-

(in million tonnes)
Item 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
Production of crude steel 113 121.5 130.6 140.4
Capacity of crude steel 158.33 165.19 170.51 172.58
Demand of Iron ore 181 197 211 227
Supply of Iron ore 250 255 260 277
[Source: JPC]

Contd……….2/-
-: 2 :-



(c) The Government has taken various steps to increase availability of iron ore and steel which include, inter-alia, Mining and Mineral Policy reforms to ensure enhanced production and availability of iron ore, early operationalization of forfeited working mines of Odisha by the State/Central PSUs etc., besides ramping up production and capacity utilization by steel producers. In Union Budget 2021-22, Customs Duty has been reduced uniformly to 7.5% on Semis, Flat and Long products of non-alloy, alloy and stainless steels. Further, Basic Custom Duty (BCD) on steel scrap has been exempted for a period up to 31st March, 2022.

(d)&(e): The import of iron ore during the last three years and the current year is as follows:-
(in million tonnes)
Items 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Import of Iron Ore 12.804 1.240 0.760 0.0009*
[Source: DGFT & JPC] *between April – June, 2021

(f) The comparative statement of production cost of steel in India vis a vis other major steel producing countries is as follows:-

Average Cost of Finished Steel in 2018 (US$/tonne)

Items Brazil China CIS W. Europe India Japan Global Average
Raw materials 289 351 263 389 307 379 330
Labour 60 84 27 115 65 144 89
Other 184 155 164 186 171 188 171
Energy 83 99 35 125 93 68 74
Energy Credit (-) 88 (-) 87 (-) 75 (-) 116 (-) 122 (-) 81 (-) 83
Total 528 602 414 699 514 698 581
[Source: WSD Steel Strategist #44 March, 2019-operating cost for CR coils]

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