JSW Steel registers sequential decline in Q2 production

JSW Steel registers sequential decline in Q2 steel productionGovernment’s export duty on steel products is beginning to hurt production schedule of domestic steel producers with private sector steel maker JSW Steel reporting a 3% decline in crude steel production sequentially in July-September quarter of FY23.In a statement the company said that though at the group level, combined crude steel production at 5.68 million tonnes for Q2 FY’23 registered a growth of 12% YoY (over 5.07 mt last year), sequentially the production slipped 3%, indicating re-emergence of demand slowdown.“This drop in production was attributable mainly to extended maintenance shutdowns in JISPL (JSW Ispat Special Products Ltd.), subdued market conditions in USA and lower capacity utilisation in other locations in India due to supply and logistics constraints in sourcing of iron ore and steep decline in export volumes,” JSW Steel said in a statement.While the company produced 5.68 mt of steel in Q2 this year, the production was higher at 5.88 mt in Q1 FY23.Of the total Q2 production, almost entire steel (5.57 MT) has been rolled out by JSW Steel Indian Operations that includes production from Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) which was acquired by the group early last year under the insolvency and bankruptcy process and included under JSW Steel Indian Operatiins in October, 2021. Only a production of 0.03 MT came from JISPL in Q2. The total crude steel production in the quarter also included 0.08 MT steel produced by JSW Steel USA Ohio.In H1FY23 (April-September) the total combined steel production by the group stood at 11.56 MT, 14% higher than 10.14 MT crude steel production registered in H1 of FY22.