India's JSW Steel to Expand Vijayanagar Plant Capacity
India's JSW Steel plans to increase steelmaking capacity at its Vijayanagar plant by 5mn t/yr to 17mn t/yr, by the financial year ending March 2024. JSW Steel plans to spend 150bn rupees ($2.06bn) for the expansion at Vijayanagar in India's southern state of Karnataka, the largest single-location mill in the country, the company announced. JSW Steel in April concluded a 5mn t/yr expansion at its Dolvi unit in the western state of Maharashtra, taking the plant's total capacity to 10mn t/yr. The completion of this expansion was stalled by Covid-19 disruptions in the country and delayed the deadline for fully integrated operations to September. In the financial year ending March 2022, JSW aims to increase domestic crude steel output by 45pc to 21.94mn t and sales by 38pc to 20.63mn t, on the year, the company said. The company's crude steel production and sales had dropped during the year ended March 2021 by 6pc to 15.08mn t and by 1pc to 14.9mn t, respectively, from Covid-19 related lockdowns disrupting supply chains. India's domestic steel demand will pick up once the second Covid wave subsides and the vaccination drive gains traction, said Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director at JSW Steel. Expansion at Dolvi along with the recent acquisitions of the 3mn t/y Bhushan Power and Steel and the 1mn t/yr Monnet Ispat are expected to increase JSW Steel's total steelmaking capacity to 27mn t/yr in the 2021-22 financial year, up from the installed capacity of 18mn t/yr the year earlier. JSW in April also completed acquisition formalities of downstream units of Welspun, a 1.2mn t/yr high-grade plate and coil maker at port-based Anjar in the western state of Gujarat. The company also aims to set up a new 120,000 t/yr colour coated facility in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. JSW also commissioned an 8mn t/yr pellet plant at Vijayanagar in March.
Tags : Press Room Maharashtra Karnataka Steel JSW Steel India COVID-19 Demand Vijayanagar steel plant