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Weighed down by Asian trends, the J.P.Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI stood at 50.6 in

September 2015, not only down from the 50.7 reading of August 2015 but also reaching its lowest reading since July 2013, as per reports released by the Markit Economics. The latter thus indicate that the global manufacturing sector continued to record lacklustre growth at the end of Q3 2015, with rates of expansion in output and new orders edging lower and remaining marginal overall.

While the US and the EU remained positive contributors to global manufacturing growth in September 2015, it was the Asian region that remained one of the weaker points in the global manufacturing sector during September 2015. The Chinese PMI slipped to a six-and-a-half year low of 47.2 in September 2015, while headline indices also signalled contractions in South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. Japan and India were brighter points in the region but the rates of expansion in these two countries slowed to three and seven-month lows respectively. Brazil and Greece, meanwhile, remained in severe downturns while contractions were also signalled by the Russian, Canadian, Turkish and Swiss PMI indices, as per the Markit Economics report.

Key Economic Figures Country GDP Q2 2015:

% yoy change* Manufacturing PMI

August 2015 September 2015 India ^ 7.0 52.3 51.2 China 7.0 47.3 47.2 Japan 0.8 51.7 51.0 USA 2.7 53.0 53.1 EU 28 1.5 52.3 52.0 Brazil -2.6 45.8 47.0 Russia -4.6 47.9 49.1 South Korea 2.2 47.9 49.2 Source: GDP-official estimates; PMI- Markit Economics, *provisional; ^based on new series data

WORLD ECONOMY AT A GLANCE

A muted consumption growth, a rising import level, an indigenous supply side that slipped into the red, plunging exports, sliding prices - these summed up the domestic steel scene at the end of the first half of the current fiscal year. The much-anticipated safeguard duty was imposed, after two rounds of import duty hikes, covering imports

from all countries. Globally, things maintained their status quo level, specially in relation to the Chinese steel market. Domestic sentiments, nonetheless, were largely positive as industry stepped into the 3rd quarter.

Trends ….. September 2015

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World crude steel production for September 2015 was 131 million tonnes (mt), a decline of 3.7 per cent over September 2014 and 1212.32mt during January–September 2015, down by 2.4 per cent year-on-year (yoy).

China produced 66.12 mt of crude steel in September 2015, down by 3 per cent yoy

and 608.94 mt during January – September 2015, down by 2.1 per cent yoy and remained the largest crude steel producer in the world, fuelling world production, which, excluding China, was down by 3 per cent.

China accounted for 73 per cent of Asian and 50 per cent of world crude steel production in January-September 2015.

September 2015 Japanese crude steel production (8.6 mt) was a yoy decline of 7.3 per cent and was also down by 5.2 per cent in January-September 2015 (78.81 mt). The country remained the second largest crude steel producer in the world in 2015 so far.

With a 6 per cent share in total world production and a 3.1 per cent rise in production over same period of last year, India maintained its rank as the third largest crude steel producer in the world in January - September 2015.

Crude steel production in the EU (28) countries during September 2015 was at 14 mt, down by 4.6 per cent yoy and at 127.5 mt in January-September 2015, it was down by 0.3 per cent yoy.

At 89.83 mt, Asian crude steel production was down by 3.4 per cent yoy in September 2015 and by 2 per cent in January–September 2015 (829 mt). Asia accounted for 68 per cent of world crude steel production during this period.

World Crude Steel Production: January-September 2015* Rank Country Qty (mt) % yoy change

1 China 608.94 -2.1 2 Japan 78.81 -5.2 3 India 67.57 3.1 4 United States 60.63 -8.6 5 Russia 53.3 -0.5 6 South Korea 51.87 -3.4 7 Germany 32.57 0.1 8 Brazil 25.25 -1.2 9 Turkey 23.78 -7.8 10 Ukraine 17.11 -20.5 Top 10 1019.83 -2.8 World 1212.32 -2.4

Source: worldsteel, JPC;* provisional

GLOBAL CRUDE STEEL PRODUCTION

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THE AMERICAS US Steel is making planned repairs to one of the blast furnaces at its Great Lakes Works. The US Commerce Department's International Trade Administration has initiated trade

investigations into HRC imports from seven countries - both ADD (Australia, Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Turkey and the UK) and a CVD (Brazil, South Korea and Turkey).

ArcelorMittal Brazil aims to start commercial deliveries of its domestically produced high-strength steel Usibor to the Brazilian auto sector in 2016.

Brazilian authorities have approved the purchase of 15% of the shares of steel reroller, Armco do Brasil, by integrated steelmaker, CSN.

ASIA Baosteel is set to commission the first blast furnace at its new greenfield Zhanjiang

steelworks in southern China’s Guangdong province on September 25, together with two oxygen converters and two continuous slab casters.

Chengde Iron & Steel will halt production of its 1,780 mm HSM for 12 days from September 11, resulting in lost HRC output of 10,000 tpd.

Shougang Jingtang Iron & Steel has formally launched a second phase expansion that will double the mill’s crude steel capacity to 19.1 mt. Completion is scheduled for end-2018.

Hebei Iron & Steel Co (Hegang) is to build two HDG lines with a combined 0.65 mtpa capacity in Tangshan city.

Japan's NSSMC and Indonesia’s PT Krakatau Steel have begun construction of their 0.48 mtpa coil-coating line JV at the Krakatau Industrial Estate Cilegon.

Japan’s JFE Steel is to acquire 5% of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp’s 3.5 mtpa integrated steelmaking project in north-central Vietnam. The $225 million for its stake is expected to be paid within this month.

Tokyo Steel Manufacturing is to build a new billet caster at its Okayama works in western Japan which it will marry with the existing 150 mt DC furnace it hopes to restart by early 2018.

Indian government has imposed provisional safeguard duty of 20% on HR products with some exceptions, effective15 Sept. 2015 and is valid for 200 days.

Hyundai Special Steel will start building a new 60,000 tpa plant for CHQ wire rod and cold-drawn bar in Yancheng in Jiangsu province this month. „It also plans to start hot run trials on its new 1 mtpa plant for specialty steel from November. Commercial production of specialty rebar and wire rod is expected from February 2016.

Posco has resumed construction on a new 0.5 mtpa HDG line at its Gwangyang works, due for completion by mid-2017.

Indonesia has imposed safeguard duties of 14.5% on wire rod imports for a year commencing August 18 2015. The duty will fall to 10% during the following year and to 5.5% during the third year.

THE STEEL WORLD LAST MONTH

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Thailand’s Millcon Steel and its partners have started civil construction on its 60,000 tpa ERW pipe plant JV in Myanmar’s Thilawa special economic zone.

Thailand has launched an ADD investigation against painted galvanized products and aluminum-zinc alloy-coated sheet from Vietnam, as well as imports of stainless tube and pipe products from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Malaysia has imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties of 52.1% and 5.68%-16.45% on pre-painted, painted or color-coated coil imports from China and Vietnam respectively, effective

September 26. Formosa Ha Tinh, the new integrated works in north-central Vietnam, will commence trials

on its 3.5 mtpa HSM in December 2015. Malaysia has started a safeguard investigation into alloy and non-alloy HRC imports,

following a request from local flat steel producer Megasteel.

RUSSIA, MID-EAST, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA Australia has imposed ADD of 5.7%-29.7% on imports of certain hollow structural sections

from Thailand. Further, it has revised an interim dumping duty imposed on rebar imports from South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey, effective September 4, 2015.

South Africa has imposed a 10% import tariff on all flat rolled products of iron or non-alloyed steel up to 600mm wide, galvanized coils and coils coated with zinc/aluminium or paint/plastic.

ArcelorMittal South Africa is to close the Vaal meltshop and forge at its Vereeniging long product works due to poor trading conditions. The site produces 0.4 mtpa of finished products.

The Iranian government will pursue policies to promote the development of the country’s steel industry in an attempt to diversify its revenue base.

EU AND OTHER EUROPE The European Commission has imposed definitive ADD of between 24.4%-25.3% on

imports of stainless steel CR flat products from China and duties of 6.8% on imports of similar material from Taiwan. The duties take effect August 28, 2015.

Turkey has imposed transitional measures of between 2.22% and 35.15% on imports of HRC from China, Russia, Japan and Slovakia.

The Eurasian Economic Union – a customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – has introduced antidumping duties of between 12.23%-31% on imports of seamless OCTG from China, effective for five years from September 25, 2015.

The European Commission has increased ADD on imports of stainless steel wire into the EU from India's Venus Group of companies to 9.4% from the previous 8.6%.

Ilva’s Taranto steelworks expects to restart its HSM No.1 by end-October 2015. Sahaviriya Steel Industries is to idle operations at its Teesside plant in the UK because of

"ongoing issues with the supply of raw materials and services.

[Source Credit: Steel First, Platts, leading news papers (India news)]

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Global steel price trends ended September 2015 along same lines as in August 2015, weighed down by a host of factors including low demand, rising imports, volatile raw material prices and regional economic conditions that went on to affect domestic demand-supply situations in different markets around the world. Long products September 2015 saw leading producers like Nucor Corp and Steel Dynamics Inc cut their

prices for most merchant bar and structural products by $30/t effective with September 23 shipments, leading to an overall decline as most took the cue, with transactions quoted at around 540/t.

EU rebar prices slipped in September 2015 in view of rising imports and falling scrap prices with Steel First’s price assessment for domestic rebar in Northern Europe at €400-410/t ($447-458) and at €390-395/t ($436-441).

Low demand and limited transactions made Chinese rebar prices in September 2015 move south, with transactions for grade III rebar (16-25 mm) quoted at around 1970-1990/yuan in Shanghai and at 1900-1930/t in Beijing. All prices are ex-warehouse and inclusive of VAT.

Russian domestic rebar prices remained stable in September 2015 in line with growing construction demand. Steel First’s weekly price assessment for 12mm A500C rebar were at around 24,500-24,550 roubles/t ($370-371) cpt Moscow, including VAT.

. Flat products September 2015 saw US flat rolled steel prices hold steady despite stagnant demand and

rising imports from many consuming industries, with transactions for HRC quoted at around $440/t.

Stagnant demand and import pressure also pushed EU HRC prices down in September 2015 with transactions quoted at €360-370/t ($405-416) ex-works as on September 30, in the Northern part of the region. The situation was no different in the southern part (€300-320/t or $337-360 ex-works).

The flat price situation was similar to long market: low transactions made HRC prices move south in September 2015 with transactions for 2mm product quoted at around 1900-1910 yuan/t in Shanghai and at 1950-1960 yuan/t in Beijing at month-end. All prices are ex-warehouse and inclusive of VAT. Prices are expected to dip even more with market leaders like Angang ($8-13/t), Hebei ($16-31/t) all having announced plans to cut October 2015 prices for all major products.

Russian September 2015 flat prices remained stable with transactions for 4mm HR sheet quoted by Steel First at around 27,000-28,200 roubles/t ($410-428) cpt Moscow at month-end.

[Source Credit: Steel First]

WORLD STEEL PRICE TRENDS

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China economic growth sputters in August

Growth in China's investment and factory output missed forecasts in August 2015, pointing to a further cooling in the world's second-largest economy that is likely to prompt the government to roll out more support measures. The downbeat data came on the heels of weak trade and inflation readings, raising the chances that third-quarter economic growth may dip below 7% for the first time since the global crisis. Fears of a China-led global economic slowdown have dampened global markets in recent weeks, prompting speculation that the US central bank may hold off on raising interest rates later this week. Overall, the economy continues to be very weak and the central bank may have to continue cutting interest rates and banks' reserve requirement, as most analysts believe. Growth in China's fixed-asset investment, one of the crucial drivers of the economy, slowed to 10.9% in the first eight months of 2015 - the weakest pace in nearly 15 years, as per data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China. Factory output also was weaker than expected, rising 6.1% in August 2015 from a year earlier. Markets had expected a 6.4% increase, compared with July's 6%.

Official data also indicates that annual growth in China's real estate investment also continues to cool, slowing to 3.5% in the first eight months, the weakest since early 2009, from 4.3% in January-July 2015. While home sales and prices are slowly recovering from a slump last year - the area of property sold rose at a slightly faster pace of 7.2% in January-August 2015, analysts are of the opinion that it will take time for developers to work off a huge overhang of unsold houses and a sharp falloff in new construction will continue to dampen demand for materials from cement to steel.

SPECIAL FOCUS

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Retail sales were the only positive surprise as per the NBS data, growing 10.8% in August 2015 from a year earlier, above forecasts of 10.5%. But the increase did not appear to be in sync with recent reports from local and foreign firms in China of slowing sales. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which dominates online sales in the country, lowered its sales forecasts in a fresh signal that the economic slowdown is taking a bite out of consumer spending.

Vehicle sales fell 3% in August 2015 from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data showed, which further indicate that China's manufacturers slashed prices at the fastest rate in six years in August 2015 as commodity prices fell and demand cooled, signaling stubborn deflationary risks in the economy and adding to expectations of further stimulus measures. Imports fell more than expected while exports shrank again, pointing to persistently weak demand both at home and abroad.

China's surprise yuan devaluation last month and a plunge in its stock markets since June have fueled fears of more shocks to the economy as most analysts agree the economy is likely facing a prolonged but gradual slowdown, rather than a sharp loss of momentum.

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China cuts 2014 GDP forecast to 7.3%

China has lowered its GDP growth estimate for 2014 to 7.3% from 7.4% which was already the weakest reported GDP in the last 24 years. As per NBS reports, the revised GDP for 2014 based on preliminary verification stood at 63.61 trillion yuan ($10 trillion), down 32.4 billion yuan ($5 billion) from the preliminary calculation that had yielded the earlier-reported 7.4% growth. Primary industries accounted for 9.2% of the GDP structure, unchanged from the preliminary calculation. The secondary sector accounted for 42.7% of GDP, up 0.1 percentage points from the preliminary calculation, while the tertiary sector accounted for 48.1%, down 0.1 percentage point from the earlier statistics. Despite the fact that the downward revision was only marginal, yet the move sparked concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy, coming close on the heels of the devaluation-led-panic. For, not only the figures (re-) confirm that China is headed for its slowest economic expansion in the last 24 years but also and most importantly, it indicates that the country, in all probability, is sinking into a deep slowdown and that there may not be any short-cuts or quick way/s out of the situation. Even though policies continue to be announced to rein in the situation, the growth story in 2015 so far has failed to present a picture of a resurrected economy.

India imposes 20% Safeguard Duty

The Indian government has imposed provisional safeguard duty of 20% on hot rolled products with some exceptions like flat steel products with width less than 600 mm, API grade steel, silicon electrical steel, coated steel, flat products of spring steel quality, and flat products of stainless steel. The duty is effective from 15 September 2015, is valid for 200 days and covers imports from all countries. The imposition follows the similar recommendation by the Director General of Safeguards (DGS) and based on the data submitted, it was confirmed that increased imports of HRC have caused serious injury to the domestic industry which in turn, led to the DGS recommending 20% provisional safeguard duty on certain HRC products, which was then investigated by standing committee of Safeguards headed by Commerce Secretary. Reeling under rising imports from China, Japan and Korea, the move to impose provisional safeguard duty came as a major relief to the domestic steel industry. Though analysts point out that the impact of the duty on the domestic CR segment is still unclear (as safeguard duty is not imposed on CRC), it may still encourage imports of cold rolled and galvanized products. Earlier, the government has increased import duties in two separate rounds but imports have continued to pour in.

Provisional data released by JPC for April-September 2015-16 indicates a modest rise of 4.1 per cent in domestic steel consumption during the period as compared to same period of last year - in line with trends witnessed earlier. Analysis shows - again, like last month - that such a growth in steel consumption owes more to an influx of imports (up by 43.4 per cent during this period) given that production for sale actually declined (albeit marginally, by 0.7 per cent) and so did exports (by 26 per cent) partly to make room for (ensuring) domestic

INDIAN STEEL MARKET ROUND-UP

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commitments/availability and partly due to global conditions (including the exchange rate volatility). But the focal point remains that steel imports, which had been a source of prime concern for industry last year, continued unabated in the period under review and accounted for as high as 14 per cent of the total finished steel consumed by the country during this period, its high 43.4 per cent growth rate influenced partly by the low growth in indigenous supply (production for sale) during this period (which slipped into the negative zone). It is true that import of total finished steel in September 2015 (0.93 mt) declined (by 4.3 per cent) over August 2015, yet it appears a bit early to treat this either as a trend or as an outcome of the back-to-back hikes in import duty, effected earlier.

The top ten import markets for India during April-September 2015-16 are shown below and indicates the dominance of Asian neighbors led by China, which accounted for 29 per cent while the top three markets (China, Japan and Korea) accounted for as high as 77 per cent of the country's imports of total finished steel during this period.

India's top ten import markets in April-September 2015-16* Rank Country Qty ('000t) %share in total

1 China 1591 29 2 South Korea 1478 27 3 Japan 1160 21 4 Russia 213 4 5 Ukraine 148 3 6 Germany 122 2 7 Indonesia 120 2 8 Taiwan 97 2 9 Brazil 55 1 10 Belgium 53 1

TOP 10 5037 92 ALL TOTAL 5501 100 Source: JPC; *provisional

Against this background, the imposition of safeguard duty of 20 per cent on hot rolled flat products for a period of 200 days, which though temporary in measure, would nonetheless prove to be a source of major relief, specially since it would cover all countries, unlike the previous import duty hikes which kept countries under FTA out of its purview. It is relevant to mention in this context that import of non-alloy HRC saw a whopping increase of 120 per cent during this period as compared to same period of last year.

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Indian Steel Industry Performance: April-September 2015-16 The following is a report on the performance of Indian steel industry in terms of total finished steel during April-September 2015-16 based on provisional data released by JPC. All growth comparisons are with regard to same period of last year.

Production for sale

During April-September 2015-16, production for sale stood at 45.537 mt, a decline of 0.7 per cent compared to last year, in which contribution of the non-alloy steel segment stood at 40.856 mt (1.3 per cent decline), while the rest was the contribution of the alloy steel segment (including stainless steel), where production for sale was up by 5 per cent.

Analyzing by broad divisions, in the total production for sale of finished non-alloy steel, contribution of the non-flat segment stood at 20.697 mt (up by 3 per cent) while that of the flat segment stood at 20.159 mt (decline of 5.4 per cent).

Analyzing by segments, one finds that in the non-flat, non-alloy segment, production for sale of bars & rods, structurals and railway materials stood respectively at 16.5 mt (up by 3.4 per cent), 3.8 mt (up by 3 per cent) and 0.39 mt (down by 7.1 per cent) as compared to last year.

On the other hand, for the flat segment, with the exception of plates (2 mt, up by 2.1 per cent) and pipes, production for sale was down for all other items like HRC (9.2 mt, down by 9.9 per cent), CRC (3.52 mt, down by 7 per cent) and GP/GC Sheets (3.33 mt, down by 5 per cent).

Export During April-September 2015-16, export of total finished steel was 2.024 mt, down by

26.3 per cent compared to last year. Contribution of the non-alloy steel segment stood at 1.768 mt (down by 24 per cent)

while the rest was that of alloy steel (including stainless steel) segment, where exports were down by 41 per cent.

In the total export of finished non-alloy steel, export of non-flat was at 0.2 mt (down by 4 per cent) and that of flat steel was at 1.57 mt (down by 26 per cent).

In the non-alloy, non-flat segment, in volume terms, major contributor to export was bars & rods (163 thousand tonnes, down by 4 per cent) while growth in exports in the non-alloy, flat segment was led by GP/GC sheets (0.69 mt, down by 16 per cent).

Total Finished Steel (alloy + non-alloy)

Performance Highlights April-September 2015-16* (mt)

April-September 2014-15 (mt)

%yoy change*

Production for sale 45.537 45.866 -0.7 Import 5.501 3.835 43.4 Export 2.024 2.749 -26.4 Real Consumption 39.147 37.588 4.1 Source: JPC ;* provisional

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Import With import of total finished steel during April-September 2015-16 at 5.501 mt (up by

43.4 per cent compared to last year) and remaining well above exports, India remained a net importer of total finished steel in 2015-16 so far.

In total finished steel import, contribution of the non-alloy steel segment was 4.223 mt (35 per cent rise) while the rest was the contribution of alloy steel (including stainless steel) segment, which was up by 83 per cent over same period of last year.

In the import of total finished non-alloy steel, non-flat imports were at 0.35 mt (down by 8 per cent) and flat imports were at 3.87 mt (up by 41 per cent).

In the non-alloy, non-flat segment, major contributor to import was bars & rods (0.32 mt, down by 8 per cent) while for the flat segment, import was led by HRC (1.85 mt; up by 120 per cent).

Real Consumption During April-September 2015-16, real consumption (or simply consumption) of total

finished steel stood at 39.147 mt, a growth of 4.1 per cent compared to last year. For non-alloy steel, contribution of the non-flat segment stood at 19.979 mt, up by 3 per

cent over last year and that of the flat segment (after accounting for double counting) stood at 14.97 mt, down by 1.7 per cent over last year, taking total non-alloy consumption (after double counting) to 34.949 mt, up by 0.7 per cent. The remainder was the contribution of the alloy/stainless segment, which reported a growth of 46 per cent during this period.

In the non-alloy, non-flat segment, the major contributor to consumption was bars & rods (15.8 mt; up by 3.5 per cent) whereas for the flat segment, consumption was led by HRC (10.69 mt, up by 4.7 per cent).

JPC Market Prices (Retail) Delhi market prices: Compared to September 2014, average (retail) market prices in Delhi market in September 2015 declined for both long products (represented by TMT 10 mm) and flat products (represented by HRC 2 mm), largely in response to domestic demand-supply conditions (including impact of raw materials) and partly global influence. The trend was however opposite when compared to August 2015 in both the cases, with increases noted for both TMT (up by 7 per cent) and HRC (up by 0.9 per cent). TMT prices were highest in the Delhi market (Rs 38750/t) and lowest in the Mumbai market (Rs 34469/t) while HRC prices were highest in the Delhi market (Rs 40300/t) and lowest in the Mumbai market (Rs 36400/t) during September 2015. The situation in September 2015 with regard to September 2014 is shown in the table below for TMT 10 mm and HRC 2.0 mm.

Trends in JPC market price (retail) in Delhi market in September 2015 Item Delhi market prices (Rs/t) % change over September 2014 TMT, 10 mm 38750 -14.3 HRC, 2.0 mm 34563 -20.5 Source: JPC

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All markets: Compared to September 2014, average (retail) market prices in all four metro cities (Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai) in September 2015 declined for both long products (represented by TMT 10 mm) and flat products (represented by HRC 2 mm), largely in response to domestic demand-supply conditions (including impact of raw materials) and partly global influence. The September 2015 trend was different when compared to August 2015 in that TMT prices saw a rise in the markets of Kolkata and Delhi but dipped in the markets of Mumbai and Chennai. On the other hand, HRC prices witnessed a rise in Delhi and Mumbai markets but fell in the Kolkata and Chennai markets. The situation in September 2015 with regard to September 2014 is shown in the table below for TMT 10 mm and HRC 2.0 mm.

GDP: GDP at constant (2011-12) prices in Q1 of 2015-16 is estimated at Rs 27.13 lakh crore, as against Rs 25.35 lakh crore in Q1 of 2014-15, showing a growth rate of 7 per cent. Quarterly GVA at Basic Price at constant (2011-2012) prices for Q1 of 2015-16 is estimated at Rs 25.80 lakh crore, as against Rs 24.10 lakh crore in Q1 of 2014-15, showing a growth rate of 7.1 per cent over the corresponding quarter of previous year. The economic activities which registered growth of over 7 per cent in Q1 of 2015-16 over Q1 of 2014-15 are ‘manufacturing’, ‘trade, hotels and transport & communication and services related to broadcasting’ and 'financial, insurance, real estate and professional services'. The growth in the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘mining and quarrying’, ‘electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services, ‘construction’ and 'public administration, defence and other services’ is estimated to be 1.9 per cent, 4 per cent, 3.2 per cent, 6.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively during this period. Industrial Production: Provisional CSO data show that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was up by 6.4 per cent in August 2015 and by 4.1 per cent yoy in April-August 2015-16, led by growth in all the leading sectors like Electricity, Mining & Quarrying, Manufacturing, Other Transport Equipment, Motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, Basic Goods, Intermediate Goods and Capital Goods. Inflation: The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at (-) 4.54 per cent (provisional) for the month of September 2015 (over September 2014) as compared to (-) 4.95 per cent (provisional) for the previous month. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 0.28 per cent compared to a build up rate of 2.61 per cent in the same period of the previous year. The all India CPI inflation rate (combined) for September 2015 stood at 4.41 per cent as compared to 3.74 per cent of previous month.

Trends in JPC (retail) market price: %change in September 2015 over September 2014 Item Kolkata Delhi Mumbai Chennai TMT 10mm -15.2 -14.3 -26.0 -18.3 HR Coils 2.00mm -18.7 -20.5 -20.9 -15.3 Source: JPC

INDIAN ECONOMY – HIGHLIGHTS OF PERFORMANCE

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Infrastructure Growth: During April-August 2015-16, the yoy growth rate of the eight core infrastructure industries was up by 2.2 per cent weighed down by the decline in growth rates in the production of crude oil and the slow growth rates in case of production of cement and electricity. Trade: Provisional figures from DGCI&S show that during April-September 2015-16 in dollar terms, overall exports were down by 17.63 per cent and imports were also down (by 14.16 per cent), both on yoy basis. During the same period, oil imports were valued at US$ 48128.96 million, which was 41.58 per cent lower yoy while non-oil imports were valued at US$152805.28 million which was 0.72 per cent higher yoy. The trade deficit for April-September, 2015-16 was estimated at US$ 67994.79 million which was lower than the deficit of US$ 72692.08 million during April-September, 2014- 15. Policy: The RBI has permitted banks to enter into pacts with Online Payment Gateway Service

Providers for import payments. It has also relaxed ECB norms for non-bank finance companies and has proposed that Indian banks act as ECB lenders subject to norms.

The government is planning to remove some conditions and restrictions in its FDI policy to make it simpler, attractive and progressive. The Central Government has notified the contributions miners would be required to make to

the District Mineral Foundations. Existing mining lease holders would be required to pay 30 per cent of the applicable royalty to the DMFs while those who win the mining leases in the auctions will be required to pay 10 per cent of the applicable royalty.

The government is planning to create a "Green Highways Fund" under its ambitious policy to transform India's 96,000 km network of National Highways under which it will be mandatory to set aside 1 per cent of the total road project cost for plantation.

Prepared by Joint Plant Committee