Indian rating agency ICRA has revised upwards its Indian steel demand growth forecast for the fiscal year 2024-25 to 9-10 percent, higher than 7-8 percent earlier, according to a statement by the agency on Tuesday, June 4.
ICRA said that domestic steel consumption between February and April 2024 registered a growth of 11.3 percent and, while government capex spending was healthy until February 2024, other steel-consuming sectors like housing and real estate contributed to the resilient demand after that.
The industry’s leverage, total debt to operating profits, is expected to remain at a comfortable level of 2.0-2.5 times in the current fiscal year, on the back of better realisations and higher deliveries, and will make the Indian steel industry resilient to withstand a worsening global demand environment, ICRA said.
However, a sub-par economic growth outlook in China and in other leading global steel-producing and consuming hubs has redirected steel trade flows to high-growth markets like India, ICRA noted.