Tata Steel Ltd expects the India’s steel demand to grow at 8 per cent in the current financial year, said the company’s Managing Director, Mr H.N. Nerurkar.
The company plans to produce about one million tonne more steel this year to around 8 mt on expanded capacity at Jamshedpur, Mr Nerurkar said.
He was speaking to reporters after accepting the Most Admired Company award from management consultancy firm Hay Group on Friday night.
“Based on the GDP growth forecast of 7 per cent, the normal demand for steel should be around 9 per cent. However, going by the pace of investments in infrastructure projects last year, we expect growth in steel demand at around 8 per cent,’’ Mr Nerurkar said.
Consumption
Consumption grew at a sluggish pace in 2011-12 on slower investments in construction, infrastructure and reduced offtake from consumer durables and automotive segment.
Greenfield unit
Further, he said the company expects to commission the first phase of its upcoming greenfield plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa between October 2013 and March 2014. The new plant will have an initial capacity of 3.5 mt per annum and 5.5 mtpa in the second phase.
Tata Steel, Mr Nerurkar said, expects to announce its borrowing plans in the next two months to finance its ongoing expansion in India and Europe.
“We will continue to invest about £400 million to £500 million in the European operations over the next three years,” the Managing Director said.
Such investments would be in productivity improvement and for increasing energy efficiencies.
The European demand for steel continues to be sluggish on weak economic conditions.
“We expect the European steel demand to grow at around 2-3 per cent this year,” Mr Nerurkar said.
As a result, the European steel plants of the company are expected to operate at 80-85 per cent of their capacity, he added.