Tata Steel's Q4 sales soar 13%, annual sales hit a record

Faced with the tough job of finding a buyer for its entire UK business, Tata Steel on Friday had some reason to cheer as the steelmaker said its sales in the fourth quarter jumped 13 per cent to 2.72 million tonnes (mt). The sales stood at 2.41 mt in the January-March quarter of 2014-15, the Mumbai-based firm said in a regulatory filing.

The firm, which is trying to dispose of its cash-guzzling UK business, achieved record sales of 9.54 mt in 2015-16 as against 8.75 mt in 2014-15. “The year (2015-16) registered its best-ever performance in hot metal, crude steel, saleable steel production and total sales,” the firm said.

The development comes as a shot in the arm for one of the world’s biggest steel producers, which is facing high costs and energy prices. On top of it, cheap imports have forced it to put its business on the block in the UK, with the sales process due to start on Monday. The firm, part of the more than $100 billion Tata Sons conglomerate, reported a five per cent growth in crude steel production at 2.56 mt in January-March of 2015-16 against 2.44 mt in the year-ago period.

For the entire 2015-16, crude steel production rose seven per cent to 9.96 mt as against 9.33 mt in 2014-15. On its Kalinganagar (Odisha) plant, Tata Steel said: “With continuous and consistent efforts in a challenging environment, Kalinganagar team has taken the project from ‘Construction Phase’ to ‘Testing & Commissioning Phase’ during May 2015 to March 2016.”

The stock today fell 0.52 per cent to settle at Rs 322.25 on BSE.