Restricted supply of iron ore and high input prices saw JSW Steel report a 19 per cent drop in its net profit for the third quarter of 2012-13 at Rs. 137 crore.
The company attributed the drop to lower capacity utilization, at 78 per cent, during the quarter.
A statement from JSW Steel said that notwithstanding the challenging environment, it reported a growth in production and sales volume of 8 per cent at 2.09 million tonnes and 2.17 million tonnes respectively during the quarter.
The company’s turnover was up 7 per cent at Rs. 9,121 crore, while operating profit grew 5 per cent to Rs. 1,314 crore. Operating margin was at 15.8 per cent.
The new Cold Rolling Mill (CRM-2) Phase 1 and Phase projects at Vijayanagar will be completed in 2014-15. The expansion and debottlenecking of coated products facility in Maharashtra from the current 925,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes will be completed in the first quarter of 2013-14, it said.
In its outlook, the company said that while imports mainly from FTA (Free Trade Agreement) countries, remain a concern, “pragmatic policies on iron ore mining, speeding up of infrastructure projects and the expected interest rate cut by Reserve Bank of India will boost demand for steel.”
The company attributed the drop to lower capacity utilisation
