Infra Output: Eight core sectors grow 1.8% in November, cement and steel lift momentum as energy drags

India's eight core sectors grew 1.8% in November, with cement and steel doing the lifting while energy output dragged the average down. Core-sector data is one of the most useful early reads on metal demand: when steel and cement lead, construction activity is holding up, which supports offtake of long products and the ferro alloys behind them into the new year. The energy drag is worth watching too, since power availability and cost feed directly into the economics of energy-intensive alloy smelting.