Indian steelmaker Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) has announced that in March this year its crude steel production increased by 55 percent year on year to 450,000 mt - its highest-ever monthly crude steel output. In March, JSPL’s steel sales totaled 450,000 mt, rising by 29 percent compared to March 2017, constituting its highest-ever monthly steel sales.
Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2017-18, JSPL’s crude steel production amounted to 1.26 million mt, up 38 percent, while its steel sales rose by 29 percent to 1.18 million mt, both on year-on-year basis. The company also achieved its highest-ever quarterly crude steel production and steel sales volumes in the given quarter.
The company noted that the above-mentioned figures do not include the crude steel production at its subsidiary Jindal Shadeed in Oman.
JSPL stated that in the financial year 2017-18 it increased its domestic steel manufacturing capacities by 3.2 million mt per year, taking its domestic annual crude steel manufacturing capacity to 8.6 million mt. The total steelmaking capacity of JSPL, including Jindal Shadeed in Oman, stands at 10.6 million mt per year. JSPL’s finished steel manufacturing capacity increased by 2.8 million mt per year with commissioning of a 1.4 million mt per year bar mill at Angul and also at Sohar, Oman, taking JSPL's total finished steel capacity to eight million mt per year.
Naushad Akhter Ansari, JSPL’s CEO, stated that the company aims to achieve at least 85 percent capacity utilization levels at Angul within three to four months.