Tata Steel India Production Volumes Dipped by a Third

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The provisional data published by Tata Steel India indicates notable decline in steel production and sales volume during the quarter ended 30^th June, 2020. The figures include Tata Steel standalone, Tata Steel BSL and Tata Steel Long Products.

The company’s India production volumes registered a decline by 33.5% to 2.99 million tonnes (mt) in Q1 this fiscal. This compares with the production of 4.50 mt in the quarter ended June 30^th, 2019. The quarterly sales volume totalled 2.92 mt, down by 26.2% from 3.96 mt in the prior year quarter.

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According to company press release, the capacity utilization of its upstream facilities was reduced to almost 50% in April, due to the impact of Covid-19 outbreak. The utilization levels have been ramped up to around 80% by end-June. Meantime, the company has restarted many of its downstream facilities, which had to be closed in April. To compensate for the near-zero domestic demand, the company ramped up exports. Incidentally, the exports accounted for almost half of the total sales volume during the quarter.

The production by Tata Steel Europe totalled 2.14 mt in Q1 FY21, compared with 2.65 mt in the similar quarter last fiscal. The sales volume declined from 2.26 mt to 1.94 mt year-on-year.