While JSW Steel Ltd.’s sales rose in the third quarter, they’re likely to fall a tad bit short of the full-year target. The steelmaker expects to achieve at least 94-95% of FY22 sales target of 17.4 million, Joint Managing Director Seshagiri Rao told BloombergQuint in an interview. The miss, according to him, is on account of late expansion of Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. JSW Steel’s overall sales stood at 4 million tonnes as of December 2021, a 6% rise sequentially. That was driven by a 29% jump in its domestic sales on demand from automotive, solar and appliance sectors.
Exports, Rao said, will increase in the quarter ended March if domestic demand don’t pick up further. Enquiries have improved after the holiday season.Also, the mill, according to him, will focus on more value-added products amid escalating cost pressures, particularly of coking coal. JSW Steel saw its consolidated profit fall 39%, missing estimates, over the preceding quarter in the three months to December. The company, according to analysts at Investec Securities and JPMorgan, paid Rs 1,050 crore as additional royalty on iron ore mining as the Indian Bureau of Mines tweaked calculations. That dented spreads.