Low demand, high raw material prices and a prolonged monsoon impacted the performance of Indian steelmaker Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) during the second quarter of its 2017 financial year. The company foresees positive and improving margins accompanied by ramp up in volume however, it says in its operating report for the period monitored by Kallanish.

India should remain one of the fastest growing amongst the global steel markets, with domestic demand growing at 5% and protectionist measures in place, the company says in its outlook.  With shrinking imports and growing exports, primary producers of steel are expected to see a double-digit growth in their production volumes during FY17.

The company’s consolidated steel production (i.e. for both India and Oman) was 1.16 million tonnes in Q2 FY17, up 13% year-on-year. Iron ore pellet production also rose by 28% on-year to 1.61mt.

Consolidated steel sales grew also, by 12% to 1.08mt. JSPL’s combined external pellet sales, including domestic and export sales, was 0.73mt. JSPL is now the largest exporter of pellets from India, it says. Its overseas plant in Oman saw steel margins compress during the quarter (see related article).

This financial year the company will commission the blast furnace and the rebar mill at its Angul plant in India. The latter will increase the group’s finished steel capacity to 7.95 million tonnes/year, JSPL says. 

Consolidated Q2 FY17 turnover fell y-o-y by -1.5% to INR 4,666 crores ($691.7 million). The steelmaker’s after-tax loss narrowed to INR 747 crores from INR 986 crores in Q2 FY16.