JSPL’s Sales Fall To A 10-Month Low In February

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.’s domestic sales fell for the second straight month to the lowest since April prompting the company to focus on exports.

The steelmaker’s sales dropped 6% over the preceding month to 5.45 lakh tonnes in February, according to an exchange filing. Still, shipments were nearly 14% higher year-on-year.

According to Edelweiss Securities’ channel check, JSPL’s domestic sales were down because of buyers’ reluctance despite price cuts in February. Domestic steelmakers announced a cut of Rs 1,500 a tonne, largely to match traders’ prices, the brokerage said in a report.

VR Sharma, managing director at Jindal Steel, however, told BloombergQuint that while there have been price cuts for the industry, the company hasn’t typically undertaken one, given that its rates are well placed, and because there is an incremental amount of freight cost as a result of a hike in fuel prices.

Exports, on the other hand, accounted for 26% of JSPL’s total sales volume — the most since September 2020—as the company concentrated on profitable overseas market.

JSPL’s production slipped 5% month-on-month but rose 18% over the year earlier to 6.53 lakh tonnes in February. That compares with JSW Steel Ltd.’s close to 8.7% month-on-month drop in crude steel production at 13.06 lakh tonnes. Its output remained flat over the year earlier.

Shares of JSPL were trading 0.14% lower as of 9:22 a.m. compared with a 0.71% decline in the Nifty 50.