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

Crude Steel production

  • Crude Steel production rose significantly to 8.478 million tons in August 2020, the highest level since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic.
  • TMT rebar prices rose to Rs. 57,575 per ton in September 2020, an increase of Rs. 1,250 per ton from August 2020.

Cement prices

  • Cement prices remained stable at Rs. 420 per bag in September 2020; a level that has been maintained since May 2020.
  • Crude Oil prices declined marginally to USD 40.91 per barrel in September 2020, a decline of 8.6% from the previous month. This decline reversed the increasing trend, post hitting a historic low during the COVID-19 pandemic.

stock market indices

  • After rising consistently over the last few months, stock market indices fell in September 2020 by approximately 1 to 1.5%.

Consumer confidence index

  • Consumer confidence index of the RBI was at 53.8 in July 2020, a historically low figure. With signs of a recovering economy evident in other data, it would be interesting to see the change to this figure by end of the year.