There is renewed confidence in India story: JSW Steel CEO Jayant Acharya

CEO Jayant Acharya says domestic demand remains firm, expects steel prices to recover and safeguard measures to strengthen as imports rise

After a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) surge in net profit during Q2FY26 but sequential dip amid softer prices and higher imports, JSW Steel remains upbeat on domestic demand. Joint managing director and chief executive officer Jayant Acharya discusses the outlook, trade safeguards, and expansion plans with Ishita Ayan Dutt in a telephonic interview. Edited excerpts:

 

JSW Steel’s net profit jumped nearly fourfold Y-o-Y but fell over 25 per cent sequentially. What’s your outlook for the rest of the year?

 

Quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q), the prices dropped in a seasonally weak market. Sentiments were also slightly weaker in August and September, and the imports went up a little. So, the price increase in the first quarter, corrected downwards. The forex loss also impacted profit after tax (PAT) Q-o-Q. We mitigated part of that impact through cost measures and a better product mix. But we had our second highest sales in the July-September quarter, which is seasonally weak. So, the demand tailwind has been very good.

 

What is the outlook, going forward?

 

Steel consumption growth projections are in the range of 9 per cent for the year. That means about 13.5 -14 million tonnes (mt) in terms of overall increase incrementally. From a consumption perspective, the goods and services tax (GST) reforms combined with lower interest rate, inflation and income tax, created an uptick in sentiment. Therefore, the consumption story will remain strong. The impact of government capital expenditure (capex) will play out better in H2. As far as private capex is concerned, a lot of people are now looking at expansion. So, there is now renewed confidence that the India story is good.

 

Are you seeing increased orders from your consumer-facing customers like automotive and consumer durables?

 

In automotive, our sales have been the highest. And, H2 is always better because festivities are driving factors for consuming items. Yes, we are seeing improved orders on the ground.

 

Domestic steel prices have been muted and they are currently below import offers…why?

 

That's an anomaly. While imports have gone down directionally, it picked up a little in the second quarter. That had an impact on sentiment. The ongoing overall tariffs in the world also led to uncertainty. Because of this, buying was a little guarded. But post-monsoons, these things have settled down. And, we should be looking at a better H2. I am reasonably optimistic that steel prices should improve from November-December. 

 

Is there a case for a higher safeguard duty given the European Union’s (EU’s) proposed import quota cuts and doubling of tariff for out-of-quota shipments?

 

The European action is yet to be confirmed by the European Parliament. But it highlights the response by world majors to safeguard their countries. In Europe, the eight-year safeguard is getting over. But not only are they reinstating a safeguard, they are trying to reduce the quota by half and double the (tariff) rate. This is a signal in response to what's happening in the US market — they are fearful that the steel which may not get into the US is likely to hit Europe. The same holds for us because we are a consuming economy —the fastest growing in steel demand today.

 

The projection for this year is that India would account for almost 75-80 per cent of the incremental demand of the rest of the world created in 2025. That means India's vulnerability is big. We are surrounded by surplus countries that are looking for a home. Imports have gone up in terms of volume in Q2. So, there is a case for improvement in the safeguard duty and trade measure initiatives that have been taken so far.

 

Is the industry making a representation on this before the government?

 

The final determination of the safeguard duty is already given by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), and that call will be taken by November. In addition, some anti-dumping measures are in the pipeline. We are also looking for trade measures on a country-specific basis for which wherever there is a case, we are making an application. But Europe has done this suo motu and so has America. There are many other countries which are doing this. This means that the industry doesn't need to prove that there is an injury before an action is taken. This is an important indicator for India as a growing country. The steel industry is capex intensive — it takes four to five years to build a plant. If we don't have long-term visibility of the policies, then the ability to make decisions becomes less impactful.

 

Your exports have increased 89 per cent Y-o-Y. So, is there a change in the global demand trend?

 

People were trying to take in some of the orders in the pipeline before the last quarter. Also, there has been a front loading of exports as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is set to be implemented from January 1.

 

With CBAM taking effect in January 2026, how will it impact JSW Steel, especially as you add about 8.7 mt in India by FY29?

 

About 7.7 mt will be added by September 2027. And, 1 mt (electric arc furnace) at Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) will come up in 2029. We are happy that this capacity is coming up — it is required to meet the demand because of the pipeline of projects. And, no major capacity is now expected to hit the ground from major integrated steel plants (ISPs).

   

The legal overhang on Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) is now clear. So, are you planning an expansion there?

   

In the overall expansion piece, BPSL has potential for a 5 mt brownfield capacity in addition to Vijayanagar’s 5mt (brownfield). We have Salao as a brownfield, apart from Dolvi, which is going on. We are building at Paradip in a modular fashion.