Steel demand to grow on infrastructure development, urbanisation, supportive policy reforms: Tata Steel Chairman

Tata Steel news, Steel demand in India 2023: The demand for steel in the country is expected to grow owing to infrastructure development, rapid urbanisation, and supportive policy reforms, Tata Steel Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Wednesday. Speaking at the company's 116th annual general meeting, he said that domestic steel consumption rose 10 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 117 M in FY23. The steel industry was also impacted by the volatility in the global environment, which affected the steel demand-supply balance and resulted in volatility in steel prices.

However, India appears to be an exception in the global steel arena, primarily owing to robust government spending and vibrant consumption, he said. "India's steel consumption grew by over 10 per cent y-o-y to 117 MT (Million Tonnes) in FY23. "India will continue to remain a major consumer within the global steel industry owing to infrastructure development, rapid urbanisation, and supportive policy reforms. We expect the steel demand growth to keep pace with the GDP growth over the next decade," he said.

On the company's financial performance in FY23, Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Sons, said it was impacted by higher cost structures due to elevated energy and emission-related costs and raw material price volatility. In FY23, the company's consolidated revenues stood at Rs 2,43,353 crore, which was marginally lower compared to Rs 2,43,959 crore in the year-ago period. This was on account of decline in steel realisations across geographies except in European operations.

The consolidated profit after tax in the last fiscal stood at Rs 8,075 crore compared to Rs 41,749 crore in the same period a year ago. "In our UK operations, with regard to the GBP 6 billion British Steel Pension Scheme, we have secured full insurance cover for the pension liabilities. "This means that the cash flows for future pension payouts to pensioners are guaranteed by the insurer. This has been done at no cash cost to the company and eliminated any future risks to the company from asset-liability mismatches," Chandrasekaran said. Tata Steel Nederland and Tata Steel UK will continue to focus on expanding steel deliveries, improving yield performance, optimising the commercial mix, and reducing operating costs, he said.

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