The government must keep a close watch on unfairly priced steel imports to protect domestic industry, Tata Steel Managing Director and CEO T.V. Narendran said, even as he forecasts a rise in steel prices and stronger margins for the company in the March quarter.In an interview to The Times of India's Saksham Mehta, Narendran said trade safeguards have helped but more vigilance is needed. “The safeguard has been helpful, and being extended for another two years is good. Our ask of the govt is to keep a watch on unfairly priced imports. The steel sector is the biggest private-sector capital investor in the country, and we should not be derailed by unfairly priced imports from countries that are not making money at those prices.” He added that speed matters. “Second, whenever there are these trade complaints, action should be taken fast because the damage is caused fast. Third, which is already addressed in the Budget, is to continue to spend on infrastructure.”India’s steel industry has expanded sharply but also felt pressure from imports priced below domestic rates. According to the Economic Survey 2025-26, India was a net importer of steel in FY26 (April-October), largely because international prices stayed lower than local levels. Crude steel production grew about 11.7 per cent and finished steel output rose 10.8 per cent in that period. Finished steel consumption also climbed 7.8 per cent year-on-year.The Tata Steel CEO also said steel prices in India have likely hit their bottom and are now set to move higher, helping improve profitability. He further said Europe’s carbon border tax will support Tata Steel’s European business and have little impact on its Indian operations, while domestic demand remains strong on the back of infrastructure, construction and auto sectors.Narendran said pricing trends are turning favourable after a weak period. “Steel prices seem to have hit their bottom in the last quarter. We expect steel prices to go up in India. The realisations will be about Rs 2,200/ tonne higher for India for Tata Steel in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.” He added that Europe will see a different trend because of product mix. “In Europe, while the spot prices started going up, the realisations quarter-on-quarter will be down about Rs 3,200/ tonne simply because of the mix: you are selling more volumes in some of the lower-price segments. Overall, we expect margins to be better in Q4 compared to Q3.”On raw material costs, Narendran said coking coal remains volatile and exposed to supply disruptions, especially in Australia. “Coking coal is not a very liquid market; it is very volatile depending on one-off events. If there’s bad weather in Australia and ports are impacted, then coking coal prices shoot up. Most of the coal we import is from Australia because that is the best coal for us.” He said alternative sources do not fit Tata Steel’s technology. “The US trade deal opens up options, but those coals are not suitable for Tata Steel as we use a technology called stamp charging, for which Australian or Indian coal is better. Also, we buy quite smartly and use a lot of blends to mitigate the cost.”On Europe’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, Narendran said it creates a level playing field. “CBAM is actually less of a trade issue and more of a carbon equalisation tax. We operate in Europe and we pay a carbon tax in Europe; CBAM ensures that anyone who sells in Europe pays the same carbon tax. It is positive for our European operation, and we do not sell much steel from India to Europe, so we are not impacted by CBAM significantly for the Indian operation.”He said steel demand in India continues to outpace economic growth. “We’ve always said over the last few years that steel demand growth in India will be at a higher growth rate than the GDP growth rate because it is investment led growth. When GDP is growing at 7%, we see steel demand grow at 9–10%, and strong growth across sectors like automotive and construction.” However, he flagged liquidity stress in parts of the market. “Some concerns are payments from state govts, as MSME sector is impacted. In some projects, the payments come late, so liquidity is a bit of a concern in the market. But from a pure demand point of view, the Indian demand story is great.”On the Competition Commission of India probe into major steel producers, Narendran said Tata Steel will cooperate. “We will follow due process. From what we saw in the report, the commentary is more on steel prices moving up and down, and we feel that steel prices reflect global prices, commodity prices, and coking coal costs. It is very open and transparent; we will make our submissions to the CCI.”
- News Source Indiatimes (Click to view full news): CLICK HERE
0 Comments:
Leave a Reply