Coronavirus Outbreak: JSW Steel says preparing to recommence operations once lockdown is over

New Delhi: As the 21-day lockdown period is nearing end, private steel maker JSW Steel has started preparing to scale up its production. On 25 March, the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel said the company has decided to scale down or suspend production during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The manufacturing operations in all of its locations have been either scaled down or suspended, it said adding that consequently, the capacity utilisation is expected to go down significantly during this lockdown period. While releasing the production figures for the financial year 2019-20 on Tuesday, JSW Steel announced “it is making all preparations to recommence operations at all locations on lifting of lockdown in the next few days.” [caption id=“attachment_4407133” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The company, however, did not provide any further details. During the financial year ended 31 March, the company’s crude steel output stood at 16.06 million tonne (MT), down 4 percent from 16.69 MT in 2018-19. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak The production of flat-rolled products fell 3 percent to 11.35 MT from 11.74 MT in the previous financial year, while the output of long rolled products reduced by 4 percent to 3.72 MT from 3.87 MT in the financial year 2018-19. During the January-March 2020 period, the output was at 3.97 MT, down 5 percent as compared with 4.17 MT in the same period of the previous financial year. The production of flat-rolled products during the last quarter fell by 5 percent to 2.87 MT from 3.01 MT in year-ago-period, while the output of long rolled products reduced by 4 percent to 0.95 MT from 0.99 MT in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2018-19. The company attributed the reductions in production levels to “the slowdown in economic activity due to unanticipated breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent nationwide lockdown in the later part of March 2020 led to a sharp fall in production across the plant locations”. Part of the $14-billion JSW Group, JSW Steel has steel plants in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra with a total production capacity of 18 million tonne per annum. Its manufacturing facility at Vijayanagar, Karnataka, is the largest single location steel-producing facility in India with a capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum.