Steel stocks gain; Tata Steel, JSW Steel up over 3%

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL and SAIL were trading higher in the range of 2% to 4% on BSE.

Shares of steel companies were trading higher in an otherwise subdued market in early morning trade on the expectations of a revival in consumption during the current financial year 2017-18.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL), among the large cap stocks, were trading higher in the range of 2% to 4% on the BSE, as compared to a marginal 0.05% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Bhushan Steel, Man Industries, Uttam Galva, Kalyani Steels, Pennar Industries and Adhunik Industries were up between 1% and 5%.

On a y-o-y basis, India had closed the financial year 2016-17 with 8.5% rise in crude steel output and a 102.1% surge in exports while imports during the year declined by a sharp 38.3% backed by imposition of Minimum Import Price (MIP), CARE, the rating agency said in latest report.

However, the country’s consumption situation had remained subdued in 2016-17 where it grew by 2.6% on a y-o-y basis which we expect to see some revival in the financial year 2017-18.

The positive momentum continued in the first two months of the current financial year with production and exports witnessing a rise and imports seeing a fall.

CARE expects production of steel to grow by 8-10% during the financial year 2017-18.

It said, the steel production that remained positive for the first two months of the current financial year is expected to continue. This will be backed by various initiatives undertaken by the government. The recent approval given by the Union Cabinet for National Steel Policy is an indication of government’s support towards the industry.

Also, the government gave nod for the policy that provides preference to domestically produced steel to be procured by the government for its projects. An expected improvement in pace of construction and infrastructure in the country will also support production.

The protective measures are expected to keep a check on imports and we therefore expect the trend in imports to continue. Also, an expected increase in production will support the exports from the country and the trend in exports is likely to continue, the rating agency said.

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN(%)
JINDAL STEEL	124.5	119.2	4.5
TATA STEEL	510.0	491.1	3.9
JSW STEEL	201.6	195.3	3.2
S A I L	58.5	57.0	2.5
APL APOLLO	1536.3	1519.2	1.1