Tata Steel's May sales up 18%

Tata Steel has recorded an 18 per cent jump in sales to 469,000 tonnes in May 2009, compared with the 397,000 tonnes registered in the same period last year.

Sales of long products, used in the construction sector, have increased 34 per cent, while sales of flat products (primarily used by the automotive and consumer durables) have grown by 8 per cent in May 2009 over May 2008.

Production of hot metal, crude steel, and saleable steel in May went up by 19 per cent, 17 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. Hot metal production in May 2009 stood at 528,000 tonnes, crude steel at 486,000 tonnes and saleable steel at 501,000 tonnes.

The sale of long products, mainly used in the construction industry, increased by 34 per cent, while that of flat items, used by auto and consumer durable sectors, increased by 9 per cent, over the year-ago period. Tata Steel’s crude steel output for the month went up by 17 per cent to 486,000 tonnes from 416,000 tonnes, while hot metal production rose by 19 per cent to 528,000 tonnes from 443,000 tonnes.

The company claimed that one of its steel melting shops in Jamshedpur achieved best-ever May production at 218,000 tonnes.

Also, a merchant mill recorded best-ever May production of 30,710 tonnes over the 28,505 tonnes recorded in the same period last year. The output of its hot strip mill and new bar mill also registered an impressive growth over May 2008, it said.

After commissioning a new 1.8-million tonne blast furnace at its Jamshedpur works unit, Tata Steel is in the process of enhancing its production capacity to 10.5 million tonnes by 2010. At present, the company’s Jamshedpur plant has a capacity to produce 6.8 million tonnes of steel annually.

In addition to increasing the capacity of its existing unit, the steel major is in the process of setting up greenfield projects in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

While in Jharkhand it proposes to invest about Rs 42,000 crore for a 12-million-tonne integrated steel plant, in Orissa it intends to pump in nearly Rs 22,000 crore for a six-million-tonne unit.

The steel major also plans to invest Rs 18,000 crore for setting up a five-million-tonne steel plant in Chhattisgarh. For all the proposed greenfield projects, the company is in the process of acquiring land and mineral linkages.