SAIL accounts for more than a third of the country's steel production of close to 24 million tonne. With a market share of roughly 46 per cent, the company is an easy yardstick for steel industry.

Between April and September, SAIL sold 4.2 lakh tonne of steel overseas, even as `oversupply conditions' persisted at home. The cumulative domestic sales in the first half of the current fiscal were of the order of 3.85 million tonnes, 7 per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year.

"Although a distinct pick-up in steel consumption is yet to emerge in the domestic market, the aggressive marketing strategies adopted by SAIL helped to maintain the continuous growth in home sales," says a SAIL release. The release says the continued "thrust on exports" resulted in 1.01 lakh tonne of overseas steel sales in the month of September alone, the highest monthly achievement so far this year.

Most of SAIL's exports this year were ``sophisticated, value-added products'' like hot rolled (HR) coils and plates. The total steel sales of the public sector giant were 4.25 million tonnes, which is 12 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year.

Saleable steel production increased by 19 per cent during the period. In the first six months this year SAIL sold 4.7 lakh tonne more steel than in the first half of last year. It also sold 2.67 lakh tonnes of pig iron upto September, a 60 per jump over the first six months of 1998-99.