Read the passages below to answer the questions that follow each passage.
Buoyed by strong demand from automobile, infrastructure, consumer durables, and capital goods industries, the price of steel and profitability of steel firms are firming up. In addition to private demand, the government's stimulus packages have also helped. Analysts expect the margins of steel companies to expand by 500 basis points in the quarter ending December last year, because of the rally in the base metal prices. Crude steel production in the quarter ended December last year grew \(2.6\%\) and prices increased by \(2\%\) in the same period. Broadly, during April- December 2009, steel consumption grew by 8% and growth gathered momentum during the last three months partly due to the low base effect of the previous year. In fact, Indian steel- makers had reduced production by up to \(40\%\) in October- December 2008, as demand dropped significantly due to the slowdown and credit crunch. Even though fears of oversupply kept steel prices under pressure in the domestic market globally, too, companies had reduced the price of the metal-strong demand is now pulling up prices. Long product prices increased by nearly Rs 4,000 per tonne in the second half of December and analysts expect prices to rise by another Rs 1,000 per tonne this month. Even on the bourses, Tata Steel, JSW Steel. Sterlite and SAIL have outperformed the broader markets with gains of around \(55\%\) in the quarter ended December and the BSE Metal Index too outperformed the Sensex. Despite the global slowdown, demand for steel in the domestic market remained strong due to the quick recovery in the automobile industry and government spending on infrastructure projects. In fact, a recent note from Nomura Research says that steel companies in India have enjoyed high operating rates resulting in robust performances. Even globally, the World Steel Organisation says that the slump in steel demand has bottomed out and is expected to grow by \(9\%\) this year as demand rebounds in the US, Europe and Japan. The organisation expects steel prices to increase by \(10\%\) in the next three months and inventory build-up will take place in anticipation of an increase in raw material costs.