Key Details
The Ministry of Steel’s half-year update brings together provisional production, consumption and trade data with September market prices and selected industry developments.
Indicator | April–September 2026 | Change from a Year Earlier |
|---|---|---|
Crude-steel production | 85.1 million tonnes | +2.9% |
Finished-steel production | 81.8 million tonnes | +3.7% |
Finished-steel consumption | 84.9 million tonnes | +7.5% |
Finished-steel imports | 4.14 million tonnes | +23.8% |
Finished-steel exports | 3.55 million tonnes | +26.2% |
Imports exceeded exports by about 0.59 million tonnes during the half-year. In September, the four-metro average price of 10 mm TMT steel was ₹65,298 per tonne, up 21.0% year-on-year; the price of 2 mm hot-rolled coil was ₹76,085 per tonne, up 26.8%. These prices include GST.
Domestic Consumption Grew Faster Than Production
India used 84.9 million tonnes of finished steel in the first half of FY 2026–27, 5.9 million tonnes more than in the same period last year. Finished-steel output rose by 3.0 million tonnes to 81.8 million tonnes. The figures show a sector growing on both sides of the market, but with domestic demand advancing faster than output.
The pattern continued in September: consumption increased 8.0% year-on-year, against 1.9% growth in finished-steel production. The release does not identify which consuming industries drove the increase.
Trade Grew in Both Directions, but Imports Remained Higher
Finished-steel import volumes rose 23.8% and export volumes 26.2% over April–September. Despite the faster percentage growth in exports, the larger import base left India a net importer by volume. September alone also recorded more imports than exports.
Steel prices rose sharply alongside these volume trends. All four finished-steel products tracked in the release—TMT bars, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and galvanised sheets—were 21%–29% costlier than a year earlier in the four-metro price series. The release reports these movements; it does not establish that the gap between consumption and production caused the price increases.
The Update Also Records Changes Beyond Output
The Ministry reports that 101 steel producers had received Green Steel Certificates across lists issued up to September 2026. Certification covers specified products; it should not be read as a measure of emissions reductions across the entire industry.
On the production side, NMDC commissioned a two-million-tonne-per-year pellet plant at Nagarnar, completing an integrated iron-ore processing, slurry-pipeline and pellet project. The update also notes the Ministry’s decision to establish a Steel Industry Safety Council, supported by a directorate for audits, serious-incident investigations and safety standards. These are distinct industry developments reported alongside the half-year statistics.
Policy Relevance
The half-year figures connect steel capacity and domestic demand to a wider industrial question: how India supplies a growing market while remaining competitive on price and product mix. Higher output has not prevented finished-steel imports from rising, and the increase in metro steel prices matters to industries that use steel as an input. At the same time, the pellet project, safety initiative and green-steel certification show that sector policy extends beyond tonnes produced—to raw-material processing, safer operations and lower-emission products. Those priorities sit alongside, rather than explain, the latest trade and price movements.
Follow the Full Update Here: India’s Steel Sector Posts Steady Growth in H1 FY 2026–27