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Informist, Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

 

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--JSW Steel: See domestic steel demand growth of 7-9% ahead
--CONTEXT: Comments by JSW Steel's management in post-earnings investor call
--JSW Steel: Focused on flat steel sales in Q1 due to better demand, pricing
--JSW Steel:Iron ore cost higher Q1, total input costs up on W Asia conflict
--JSW Steel: Lower prices impacted long steel sales in Q1
--JSW Steel: Iron ore costs went up by over INR 200 per tonne
--JSW Steel: No major W Asia war impact on co Q1, barring gas, freight cost
--JSW Steel: Part benefit from new prices fixed for auto clients flowed Q1
--JSW Steel: Hard to say if flat steel prices will do down more in Q2
--JSW Steel: Q1 domestic institutional volume best ever in an quarter for co
--JSW Steel:Taking steps to cut INR depreciation impact on co's foreign debt
--JSW Steel: Will see how rising steel imports into India play out ahead
--JSW Steel: Seeing rise in imports from far east Asian countries like Japan
 

 

By Rajesh Gajra and Astha Oriel

 

MUMBAI – Spot market prices of hot rolled coil, a flat steel product, may moderate only a little more in the September quarter from the recent softness, the management of JSW Steel Ltd. said in a post-earnings conference call with investors and analysts. Spot flat steel prices had declined by around INR 1,000 per tonne in June, a senior official said.

 

However, for the full June quarter, the company benefitted from hot rolled coil sales as the quarter exit price was INR 1,000 per tonne more than the exit price of the trailing quarter, he said. The company produced 4.88 million tonnes in the June quarter, higher than 4.58 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter. In comparison, long steel production declined to 1.13 million tonnes from 1.29 million tonnes.

 

The management said the company delivered strong flat steel sales growth of 9% on year in the June quarter due to better demand and pricing. "Our total hot rolled coil sales were also the best ever for Q1 (Apr-Jun), up 18% YoY (year on year)," a senior official said.

 

In the case of long steel products, the price drop was more, with the June quarter exit price lower by about INR 7,000 per tonne from the March quarter exit, he said. Lower long steel prices impacted the company's sales during the reporting quarter, the official said, adding that a labour shortage due to state elections and diesel availability due to the West Asia conflict were also key contributing factors.

 

The recent softness in steel prices is due to renewed rise in imports, despite the long-term safeguard duty imposed by the government on Dec. 30. Domestic hot rolled coil steel prices started moving up in the March quarter to around INR 58,200 per tonne after having touched a low of INR 45,850 per tonne in the December quarter. This had benefitted JSW Steel and other steel companies.

 

On the latest trend in the country's steel imports, JSW Steel's management said the company has seen imports going up from Japan, Russia and China in particular. The steel industry has taken up the issue of unfair trade in such imports with the government, which is currently investigating the matter from an anti-dumping duty perspective, it said. "We have to see how it plays out" over this quarter and ahead, a senior official said.

 

On the pressure from raw material costs, which rose sharply 18% on year in the June quarter, the management said it expects coking coal costs to be higher by $12-$15 per tonne in the September quarter. This will put pressure on the per-tonne steel production costs for the company. In the June quarter, coking coal prices increased by around $17 per tonne, "slightly higher than our guidance of $12-$15 (per tonne)," according to the official.

 

Iron ore costs were also higher by about INR 200 per tonne of iron ore, he said. Further, during the quarter, the supply chain tightness, higher gas prices, and higher freight costs due to the West Asia conflict raised overall input costs by about $20 per tonne, according to the management. Apart from this, there was no other significant impact of the West Asia conflict on the company's operations, according to the management.

 

On fresh prices contracted with its automotive clients, the management said the prices for most of them "have been finalised and...close to 90% of the benefit is already factored in the results of quarter 1 (Apr-Jun)." The management expects overall domestic steel demand to grow by 7-9% going forward.

 

Responding to an analyst's question on why the company is keeping a majority of its debt by way of foreign borrowings, given the sharp depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar and other currencies in the last one year, the management of JSW Steel said it was taking steps, including hedging, to see that currency fluctuations do not impact the profit and loss account.

 

JSW Steel announced its June quarter earnings Friday. The company's consolidated net profit for the quarter was up 2.1 times on year at INR 46.51 billion on the back of a 9.8% increase in revenue from operations. On Friday, shares of JSW Steel ended at INR 1,237.30 on the National Stock Exchange, up 1.3% from the closing price on Thursday.  End

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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