BackTata Steel sees better demand in India operations
Tata Steel sees better demand in India operations
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Kolkata: Tata Steel, the world’s sixth-largest steelmaker, expects sales from its Indian operations to pick up on demand from the construction sector, its managing director said on Friday.
“We expect February sales to be 10-15% over January. Auto and household sectors are not doing well, but construction demand is not bad," B. Muthuraman told reporters on the sidelines of an exhibition on foundry technology.
Tata Steel posted a 26% rise in steel sales on year in January from its Indian operations.
Muthuraman said there were no plans for any fresh acquisitions in the near term.
“We have not decided on any other acquisition. Raw material acquisition is important, but we will wait for acquisitions in Canada, South Africa and Mozambique to fructify in next one-two years."
The company has no problem in funding its projects in Jharkhand and Orissa despite recent credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, he said.
“Projects in Jamshedpur (in Jharkhand) and Orissa are in full swing. We have no funding issues," he said.
The company is expanding steel making capacity in Jamshedpur to 10 million tonnes by 2010-11 from 6.8 million tonnes now, a company spokesman said.
It is also building a 6-million-tonne per annum integrated steel plant in phases at Kalinganagar in Orissa.
Work on the first phase of 3 million tonnes started last year and it is expected to be completed in three years, the spokesman said.
Shares in Tata Steel were up 4.6% at Rs194 by 3:20 pm in a firm Mumbai market that was up 1.7%.
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