Cement, steel drag, but core sector grows in Jan 2007

The production of six core industries moved up 8.7% in January 2007 when compared with 8.2% in January 2006, but supply side constraints continued to affect the cement industry, which recently agreed to hold the price line for a year. Steel production also slowed down in January, according to data released by the government today.

The output increased 8.4% during the first ten months of the current fiscal as against 5.8% in the year-ago period despite a slowdown in production of crucial construction material cement as well as finished steel and coal.

The six industries, also comprising crude petroleum, petroleum refinery products and electricity generation, determine over one-fourth of the overall industrial production figures known as IIP.