India’s export of finished steel slumped by 33.7 per cent to 1.351 million ton­nes during the first quarter of the current financial year, according to a report.

The country had exported 2.037 million tonnes finished steel during the same quarter a year ago, the joint plant committee (JPC) said in its latest report.

The JPC, under the ministry of steel, is the only institution in the country that collects and maintains data on domestic steel and iron industry. “At 1.351 million tonnes, export of total finished steel was down by 33.7 per cent in April-June 2018 over same period of last year,” the report said.

Union steel minister Chaudhary Birender Singh had earlier said that India should export at least six to seven per cent of its total steel production.

As against the export, import grew by 10.9 per cent to 1.893 million tonnes in April-June quarter of 2018-19 compared with 1.707 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

The total output of finished steel for sale in the quarter under review stood at 26.720 million tonnes, up 4.4 per cent from 25.605 million tonnes the co­untry had produced in  3-month period last year.

India’s consumption of total finished steel surged 8.4 per cent to 23.422 million tonnes during April-June 2017 against 21.598 million tonnes in the same period last financial year.

“The consumption of total finished steel saw a growth of 8.4 per cent in April-June 2018 at 23.422 million tonnes over same period of last year, under the influence of a rising supply side as both production for sale and imports increased in April-June 2018 over same period of last year,” the JPC said.

The Union cabinet, in May last year, approved national steel policy (NSP) 2017 that envisages Rs 10 lakh crore investment to take India’s steel capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 to give a boost to the sector.

The NSP also aims at more than doubling the per capita steel consumption to 158 kg by 2030-31, from about 65 kg at present.