On September 19, according to Indian media Hindu BusinessLine, Moody's Investment Company (American business and financial servicescompany) said that India will be the fastest growing country in the globalsteel industry in the next 12-18 months. Moody's pointed out that the annualgrowth rate of Indian steel consumption will remain at least 5.5%-6%, whichwill promote the strong growth of GDP with an average annual growth rate of7.3-7.5%.

Most of India's steel products will be supplied to the domesticautomotive industry and manufacturing. In fact, driven by market conditions,the Indian steel sector said in a statement on Tuesday that India is expectedto become the world's second largest steel producer after China. The Indiangovernment is also taking measures to encourage further development of thedomestic steel industry.

Rising prices of key raw materials such as coking coal andiron ore will put pressure on steel mills' earnings, but strong market demand,especially in the construction industry, infrastructure construction andautomotive industries, will provide strong demand for finished steel prices.support.

At the same time, Moody's also said that the Asian steelindustry has developed steadily over the past few years. For those rated steel millsthat are already in a profitable state, profits will increase further in thenext 12 months, driven by strong market demand.