JSW Steel to return to normal capacity in 2 months - exec

JSWSTEEL-CAPACITY:JSW Steel to return to normal capacity in 2 months - exec

JSW Steel will start operating at its full capacity of 14.3 million tonnes per annum in the next two months on expectations of additional iron ore from mines in the southern state of Karnataka, its chief executive said.

Production at JSW Steel's 10 million tonnes per year Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka has been affected since August last year when India's Supreme Court put an interim ban on mining in the state, citing illegalities in some mines.

"What we are getting through the auction, we are running our company at 80-85 percent capacity... in two months time we look to reach 100 percent," Vinod Nowal, chief executive of JSW Steel, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on Wednesday.

 

"The top court had partially removed the mining ban earlier this year by allowing mining by category A mines, those with 50 hectares and with less or no illegalities, besides approving NMDC's output of 1 million tonnes per month.

JSW Steel, in which Japanese steelmaker JFE Holdings <5411.T> owns a 15 percent stake, has been using iron ore from the auction held under the court's watch.

The demand for steel is good and the company has enough orders to fulfil, Nowal said.

JSW Steel, India's third-biggest steelmaker, reported a 10 percent fall in net profit for the March quarter. Shares in the company were up 4.68 percent at 727.7 rupees by 0939 GMT.

Because of the ban on both iron ore exports and mining in Karnataka, the state government has lost 40 billion rupees in potential revenue and more than 150,000 people have lost their jobs, according to Indian research firm OreTeam.