The consumption of finished steel grew by 7.09 per cent during 2000-01. The country consumed 26.87 million tonne of finished steel during 2000-01, compared with 25.09 million tonne in 1999-2000, an official release said.
The production of finished steel, however, grew by 11 per cent during 2000-01 to 29.70 million tonne. The production of pig iron, on the other hand, decreased by 2 per cent during the year and was 3.11 million tonne.
The country exported 2.86 million tonne of finished steel during 2000-01. Total imports during 2000-01 stood at 1.79 million tonne.
The export of salable steel during 2000-01 has been estimated at 3.12 million tonne, an increase of 9.5 per cent as compared with the corresponding period of 1999-2000.
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) posted the highest-ever salable steel production at 9.68 million tonne in 2000-01 with a record 8.74 million tonne domestic sales.
