[ferro-alloys.com]India produced about 8.93 million mt of crude steel in November, 3.8% more than the 8.60 million mt in the same month of 2017, latest provisional data from the country's Joint Plant Committee showed.

Hot metal production for the period increased about 8.6% to 6.16 million mt, while finished steel production hit 10.88 million mt, 3.6% more than a year ago.

From April -- when India's financial year begins -- until November, crude steel production totaled 69.97 million mt, 5% higher year-on-year. Hot metal output rose 7.2% to 47.51 million mt during this period, while finished steel production was 85.93 million mt, a 4.5% increase.

The data showed that finished steel consumption reached 2.74 million mt in November, a 5.7% increase on the year.

The higher consumption has been attributed to demand from the domestic infrastructure and automotive sectors.

For instance, Indian Railways plans to spend $140 billion over the next five years on infrastructure and improvement works, which include 4,000 km of track renewal for FY2018-2019 and FY2019-2020 each.

According to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, April-November vehicle production reached 21.95 million vehicles, 12.6% higher than the year-ago period.

While November steel production figures were strong, India's steel trading activity was mixed. Imports rose 11.7% to 686,000 mt, while exports fell 42.2% to 586,000 mt.

State-run JPC is the sole body in India authorized to collect data on the country's steel and iron industry.

（G&P Global Platts）

• [Editor:王可]