High industry spread structural trend rather than cyclical: Tata Steel CFO

Koushik Chatterjee, executive director and chief financial officer, Tata Steel, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt that balance sheet strengthening continues to be an enterprise strategy

Tata Steel, a key beneficiary of booming steel prices, prioritised deleveraging and reduced net debt by Rs 29,309 crore in FY21. In an interview, Koushik Chatterjee, executive director and chief financial officer Tata Steel, tells Ishita Ayan Dutt that balance sheet strengthening continues to be an an enterprise strategy and debt reduction of $1 billion is the minimum standard, not the maximum potential. Edited excerpts:

Are the current steel-raw material spreads globally the best ever? Do you see this trend continuing?

The international market spreads are certainly getting to historical high. But one needs to put this in perspective as