Steel Authority of India Ltd has registered a 14 per cent growth in sales of saleable steel at 1.13 million tonnes in December, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Crude steel production at 1.16 mt was up 7 per cent. On techno-economic front, coke rate and energy consumption improved one per cent each during the month.

During October-December, the company’s total sales stood at 2.98 mt, up 6 per cent on a y-o-y basis. This included exports of 1.77 lakh tonnes, which recorded a growth of 122 per cent over the same period last year.

Production of crude steel in Q3FY14 also went up 4 per cent.

"The upward trend in performance in the last couple of months is an outcome of concerted efforts directed at sales improvement in both domestic and international market. Strategic focus on enhanced production especially of value-added products has resulted in sustained growth on production and sales front,” the company said.

The SAIL scrip shed 3.76 per cent to close at Rs 70.30 on the NSE on Thursday.