Tata Steel today said it has registered 4.8 per cent dip in sales for the third quarter (Q3) this fiscal, to 5.9 million tonnes, mainly on seasonal demand slowdown in Europe.
With an annual capacity of over 27 million tonnes, Tata Steel had sold 6.2 million tonnes steel during the same quarter (October-December) of 2009-10 fiscal.
Although Tata Steel's India sales were nearly 3 per cent higher than Q3 of the last fiscal, deliveries were down both in Europe and South-East Asia by nearly 8 per cent and 14 per cent, the company said in a statement.
Tata Steel sales of 5.91 million tonnes for October-December quarter were lower than previous quarter's (Q2) figure of 5.98 million tonnes.
"Due to the increased raw material prices experienced in the third quarter, Tata Steel further expects its operating results for the third quarter to decline somewhat in comparison to the second quarter," said the statement.
Tata Steel said that although sales in Q3 were in line with the first half of the current fiscal in its European operations, financial performance could not be improved like that of the previous two quarters, due to higher raw material prices and reduced demand on seasonal slowdown.
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It added that during Q3 the company as a whole produced 6.1 million tonnes of steel, majority of which came from Tata Steel Europe (previously Corus).
The statement further said that the pricing environment, domestically was a "mixed" one during the quarter, while South East Asian operations were marginally affected in Q3 of FY11 due to rising scrap prices and delayed increase in the finished product prices.