Experts and industry bodies feel that steel demand may not pick up in the country unless the government realises its targeted investment of $1 trillion in infrastructure sector during 2012-17 (12th five-year plan).
In order to attain this target, government must address regulatory hurdles, delays in project execution, among others.
According to the World Steel Association (WSA), growth in demand for the metal in India may decline to 5 per cent in 2013 from 6 per cent in the previous year.
Sluggish demand from steel using industries like automobiles and infrastructure, white goods, capital goods affected revenue of steel producers. Demand is expected to remain modest through 2013 as well, reports suggest.
Some analysts expect that profit margins of steel producers may remain under pressure owing to the persistent high cost of steel production and the inability of steel producers to pass on higher costs because of subdued demand from end-user industries.
The margin pressure will be higher on the producers with no captive raw material linkages.
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