The market update for India in July 2020, with focus on construction sector, is as follows.

Crude steel production

  • Crude steel production recovered to 6.9 million tonnes in June 2020, up 19.6% from May 2020. However, it is still -27.8% below production in February 2020.
  • TMT rebar prices dropped marginally from June 2020 to Rs. 57,033 per ton in July 2020, a drop of 0.8%.

Cement prices

  • Cement prices also dropped marginally from June 2020 to Rs. 418 per bag in July 2020, a drop of 1.2%.
  • Crude oil prices continued their recovery from the lows of April 2020, increasing to USD 43.24 per barrel in July 2020.

Stock market indices

  • Stock market indices rose sharply in July 2020 anticipating a return back to normalcy. Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex clocked an increase of ~ 7.5% in July 2020.

Consumer confidence index

  • Consumer confidence index of RBI on the other hand dropped further to 53.6 in July 2020. The index was 83.7 in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit India.