The country's leading steel producer, Tata Steel, today said its January sales rose by 26 per cent to 5.1 lakh tonnes on account of revival in demand.
Amid the global economic downturn, the steel major's sales volume had dipped by about 14 per cent to 1.07 million tonnes in the third quarter ending December.
Beginning the fourth quarter on a buoyant note, Tata Steel saw its January sales improve by 1.1 lakh tonnes to 5.1 lakh tonnes.
The company's hot metal production in the reporting month also increased by 32 per cent to 5.7 lakh tonnes against 4.3 lakh tonnes in the same month of 2008. Its crude steel output also increased by 25 per cent to 5.2 lakh tonnes from 4.1 lakh tonnes.
The company said its steel melting shops and 'H' blast furnace at Jamshedpur unit recorded their best-ever production of 5.24 lakh tonnes (crude steel) and 2.57 lakh tonnes (hot metal), respectively.
Besides reporting an increase in sales volume and output in January, the firm said it started civil construction work at its proposed 6-million-tonne integrated steel project at Kalinganagar, Orissa.
The world's sixth largest steel producer Tata Steel plans to invest about Rs 22,000 crore in its Orissa project.