Tata Steel India sales jump 73% in December

Tata Steel, the world's eighth-largest steelmaker, said on Tuesday sales from its Indian operations rose 73% in December to 636,000 tonnes from a year earlier.                                           

India sales for the December quarter rose 49% to 1.60 million tonnes, the company said in a statement.                                           

The Indian operations account for about a quarter of the group's total annual global capacity of 30 million tonnes, which includes unit Corus, Europe's second-largest steelmaker.                                           

Sales of flat products, used in automobiles and consumer durables, surged 90% in December, while sales of long products, primarily used in construction, rose 56%, it said.                                           

The company's crude steel production in India rose 21% for the month.