Posted on 01 Jul 2022
The recent duty imposition on steel exports is not going to impact JSW Steel’s growth plan as the firm believes the duties are only a short-term measure to control inflation.
“We view the export duties imposed on steel in May 2022 as a short-term headwind, since they have been imposed with the objective of controlling inflation,” says JSW chairman Sajjan Jindal. “We continue to engage with the government on this matter and believe that the duties would be withdrawn once inflation moderates.”
The executive forecasts steel consumption to grow on the back of strong demand in the current decade. “The future of the Indian steel industry is exciting, with a steadily expanding domestic market. During FY22 [fiscal year ended 31 March 2022], Indian steel consumption grew to 106 million tonnes from the pre-pandemic level of 100mt. Demand is expected to grow at a healthy rate through the current decade,” the chairman adds
Owing to potential demand and the government’s mega infrastructure push to support economic growth, the firm eyes ramping up its steel capacity from the existing 27 million tonnes/year to 37m t/y in FY25, Kallanish notes.
JSW says its standalone capacity will increase to 30.5m t/y in FY25 from the existing 23m t/y on the back of its ongoing 7.5m t/y expansion project at the Vijaynagar works. Capacities at JSW subsidiaries BPSL and JISPL will be hiked to 5m t/y and 1.5m t/y, respectively.
The company has also earmarked an investment of INR 10,000 crore ($1.26 billion) to reduce its carbon emissions through various initiatives including the use of renewable energy instead of thermal coal. It is also eyeing reducing the fuel rate by using high-quality raw materials through beneficiation, and deploying the best available technologies.
Source:Kallanish
