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Informist, Monday, Jul. 28, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd. expects sales volumes of around 18.5 million tonnes in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), the company's management said in a post-earnings call with analysts Monday. SAIL's volume guidance for FY26 includes only its own steel products and not that of National Mineral Development Corp. with which it has an arrangement to market and sell their steel.

In FY25, SAIL had sold 17.9 million tonnes of steel. The company's sales rose 14% on year to around 4.55 million tonnes in the June quarter while they fell 15% from 5.3 million tonnes in the trailing quarter.

SAIL's management said the company has retained its capital expenditure plan of INR 75 billion in FY26, adding that it is confident of achieving the target. "It is a higher target and we are confident that we will be able to achieve that," the management said. It added that the company has crossed its target for the June quarter, incurring a capital expenditure of INR 16.42 billion in Apr-Jun.

The management said the demand for steel in India is robust and is growing at 8% annually, driven by infrastructure projects, affordable housing, railways, ports, highways, and growth in automotive, defence and renewable energy sectors. However, the steel industry is facing challenges such as rising imports and global oversupply. Chinese producers are offloading excess steel in international markets at lower prices, leading to global oversupply and price suppression. This has triggered trade tensions and protective measures across several countries, including India, EU countries and the US," the management said.

The Indian government had on Apr. 21 imposed 12% provisional safeguard duty on some steel products for 200 days. The duty was aimed at preventing cheap foreign goods from flooding the domestic market. The government may raise the safeguard duty on steel products if imports remain high, a commerce ministry official told Informist on Jul. 4. 

The management said steel imports into India had surged in FY25, especially from China, Vietnam and Japan, which created price pressure on domestic producers. The management said steel prices are stabilising right now, and these have been stabilising for the past 1-2 weeks.

The steelmaker reported only an 8% on-year rise in its revenue because of lower steel prices, its management said. SAIL's revenue from operations for the June quarter was INR 259.21 billion. Sequentially, the company's revenue declined around 12%. The management expects steel prices to improve going ahead.

In the quarter ended June, the blended cost of coking coal was INR 16,918 per tonne, compared with INR 17,563 per tonne in the trailing quarter, the management said. The management said prices of coking coal are almost flat in the current quarter so far compared to the June quarter. It said it is hopeful coking coal prices will remain at the same level with "a little bit of variation here and there." 

The company's average net sales realisation in the June quarter rose to INR 51,700 per tonne from INR 50,100 in the previous quarter, the management said. For flat steel, the net sales realisation was INR 50,400 per tonne in the June quarter compared to INR 47,300 per tonne in the March quarter. For long steel, the June quarter's net sales realisation was INR 54,500 per tonne compared to INR 53,300 in the trailing quarter. In July, the company is expecting net sales realisation of INR 51,500 for long steel and INR 48,600 for flat steel. 

SAIL also has plans for capacity expansion in the pipeline, the management said. The company is planning 4.5 million tonnes of expansion in the Indian Iron and Steel Co. steel plant and tendering activities have started for the same. The company reported a net profit of INR 6.85 billion in the June quarter. On Monday, shares of SAIL closed 3.9% lower at INR 125.59 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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