JSPL consolidated steel sales up by 38% in August at 836,000 tonnes

With 836,000 tonnes sales during August against 606,000 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) recorded a 38 per cent growth in its consolidated steel sales with 8.36 lakh tonnes during August against 6.06 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The consolidated steel production stood at 8.25 lakh tonnes with a growth rate of 21 per cent in comparison to 6.81 lakh tonnes in August 2019.

JSPL's standalone steel production rose by 18 per cent with 6.25 lakh tonnes last month in comparison to 5.29 lakh tonnes in August last year. The standalone sales also increased by 37 per cent to 6.82 lakh tonnes in August as compared to 4.96 lakh tonnes in the same period of the previous year.

Steel exports contributed to 42 per cent of the total sales volumes. JSPL said its Barbil pellet plant achieved the best-ever production of 7 lakh tonnes last month which is the highest ever monthly production figure since its inception.

"We are happy to share that at JSPL Angul, the world's first coal gasification based direct reduced iron (DRI) plant is adding to higher production volumes. The company recorded its highest-ever gas-based DRI production with over 72 per cent of rated capacity in August," said Managing Director V R Sharma.

JSPL is consistently working towards its goal of reducing overall debt to Rs 15,000 crore by 2023, he said in a statement on Thursday. The steel export volumes have come down significantly with an increase in domestic sales post the lockdown period.

"Our target is to achieve Rs 50,000 crore turnover by 2023," said Sharma. In FY20, it had clocked revenues of Rs 40,744 crore.