Robust activities in manufacturing to lead steel demand

Manufacturing sector in the country had grown 3.2% in the first two months of the current financial year 2019-20 (FY20) and the rate had been only 2.5% in May. The industrial production, which includes mining and electricity, has grown 3.7% in the first two months and the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was down at 3.1% in May. These data may be revised after two months when wider coverage of production data would be made available. Going through the previous 24 months’ data, it is seen the country has achieved the highest growth rates in manufacturing during November 2017 at 10.4%, followed by 8.7% growth apiece in December 2017 and January 2018 and 8.4% in February 2018. The corresponding IIP figures in these months moved up high as manufacturing showed 77.6% weights in IIP.