Steel Demand In India To Reach 190 MT in 2030, Driven By Construction, Infrastructure Sectors: SteelMint

The report, ‘India’s Steel and Coking Coal Demand 2030’, revealed that sectors like auto and engineering will dominate demand, along with factors like population growth, and various govt initiatives.

The steel demand in India is estimated to increase at a compounded annual growth rate of 7 per cent to reach 190 million tonne (MT) level by the end of the decade, a report by SteelMint India revealed. This demand will majorly be driven by the construction and infrastructure sectors, which account for 60 to 65 per cent of the demand, the research firm noted. 

As per the market research firm, the steel demand in the country is expected to touch 230 MT by 2030, in the best-case scenario. The report titled, ‘India’s Steel and Coking Coal Demand 2030’, revealed that sectors like auto and engineering will dominate demand. Other factors to drive the increase in demand include population growth, surging urbanisation, and multiple government initiatives, reported PTI. 

The report further revealed that demand is anticipated to reach 120 MT by the end of 2023, and production will touch 136 MT. India’s crude steel production is expected to reach 210 MT by 2030, which will be 45 per cent higher than the production levels of 2023. Multiple countries, including China, are anticipated to depict a fall in steel production against their current production levels, the research agency noted in the report. 

Regarding the demand for raw materials, SteelMint commented that India’s steel production growth, via the Blast Oxygen Furnace (BOF) route, is targeting 140 MT output in 2030, and would require 116 MT of metallurgical coal. “In times to come, India will emerge as the largest importer of sea-borne met coal, which has a market share of 30 per cent,” the report noted. For the same, India would need around 350 MT of iron ore by the end of the decade. 

The research firm noted that 2030 will be important for the domestic steel industry as the government has set a target to reach an installed steel-making capacity of 300 MT. Out of the nearly 80 MT capacity to be added to steel production in India by 2030, 66 per cent would be through the Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) route.