Leading private steel manufacturer JSW Steel expects increase in supply of iron ore for its Karnataka steel unit in the next one month, company's Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal said today.
"It (Karntaka steel unit) is now running at 65% capacity and hopefully, within a month, things will be better," Jindal said on the sidelines of an event here.
After the Karnataka Lokayukta report about illegal mining in the state last year, production of iron ore at many mines has got stalled, leading to supply issues at many of the steel plants across the country and those in the Bellary region in particular.
"At present, we are buying our raw materials through e-auction," Jindal said, adding the focus of the steelmaker is to run the unit at this point of time.
"Expense and all is secondary, and just now what is important is to run our plant," he said.
Production of JSW Steel dropped 24% to 6,10,000 tonne in February, compared to 8,05,000 tonne in January, owing to drop in quality of iron ore sold in the e-auction in Bellary of Karnataka.
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As per reports, the steel industry in Karnataka needs 3 million tonne iron ore a month to run at full capacity but it was only provided 1.17 million tonne ore through e-auction in February.
In the third quarter ending December 2011, JSW Steel recorded steel production of 1.94 million tonne, up 19% over the same period last year.
JSW Steel has reported consolidated net loss of Rs 47.89 crore for the third quarter due to forex losses, higher raw material costs and the hit taken by group firm JSW Ispat Steel. However, its net sales rose 41% to Rs 8,404.66 crore during this period due to higher revenues from the steel business.