Tata Steel's September quarter output at 7.33 MT

Tata Steel Monday said its consolidated steel output remained almost flat at 7.33 million tonne (MT) during the second quarter of the ongoing financial year.

During July-September, 2017-18, the company's output on consolidated basis stood at 7.26 MT, Tata Steel said in a statement.

Sales during the reported quarter also came down to 7.22 MT from 7.38 MT in the year-ago period, registering a fall of about 2 per cent.

Tata Steel India produced 3.27 MT in July-September 2018 as against 3.20 MT during the same period a year ago. Its sales were at 3.18 MT as compared to 3.08 MT in July-September 2017, the statement said.

"Automotive and special products sales grew 17 per cent year-on-year...mainly driven by higher demand from the auto sector," it said.

Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL), which was recently acquired by Tata Steel, reported over 23 per cent jump in its output at 1.05 MT for the reported quarter as compared to 0.85 MT in the year-ago period.

BSL's sales also rose 10 per cent to 1.14 MT from 1.03 MT in the year-ago quarter.

Tata Steel Europe's output fell to 2.46 MT from 2.60 MT in September quarter of 2017-18.

In Europe, the sales also dipped to 2.25 MT from 2.60 MT in July-September 2017.

During the quarter, the "production was impacted by shutdowns for ongoing upgradation programme, annual maintenances in seasonally weaker quarter; two unplanned outages also impacted production", the company said.

Tata Steel South-East Asia reported an output of 0.55 MT as against 0.61 MT in the year-ago period.

The sales were at 0.65 MT as compared to 0.67 MT in September quarter of 2017-18.

"The production improved quarter-on-quarter but was lower year-on-year at both Tata Steel Thailand and Nat Steel. Nat Steel production was impacted by annual maintenance, other production related issues. Tata Steel Thailand production was lower in line with weak demand in Thailand," the company said.

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2018. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries.