Africa-Press – Gambia. Tata Steel CEO believes the company to fuel its growth ambitions to more than double its output – further relying on organic growth at its existing sites. He added that it does not need to acquire new assets to grow its output to 40-50 MTPA from the present level of 20 MTPA.Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director T V Narendran said the company is under ‘no pressure’ to look at fresh acquisitions during this decade. He added Tata Steel will grow organically in its existing sites.
In an interview with PTI, Narendran said, “Most of our growth in the last few years has been through the inorganic route (acquisitions). Currently, we are in a position where all our growth ambitions can be met through organic growth in our existing sites.”
He believes Tata Steel to fuel its growth ambitions to more than double its output – further relying on organic growth at its existing sites. He added the company does not need to acquire new assets to grow its output to 40-50 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) from the present level of 20 MTPA.
Talking about the expansion plans in the interview, Narendran said the NINL output will be ramped up to 10 MTPA from 1 MTPA, while the Kalinganagar plant will see an expansion to 8 MTPA from 3 MTPA, and later to 16 MTPA.
The company recorded a production of 19.06 million tonnes in FY22.
Notably, in 2018, the Jamshedpur-based steel giant acquired Bhushan Steel followed by Usha Martin in 2019. He is also in the process to complete the acquisition of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) by end of the first quarter of FY23.
On Tata Steel’s decision to stop coal imports from Russia after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, Narendran pointed out that the company is aware that the same quantity can be easily sourced from other countries.”We typically buy close to 15 MT of coal annually, of which around 3 MT used to come from Russia… which can be easily be sourced from countries like Australia, Indonesia, and Canada,” he said in the interview further.
He also ruled out a price hike scenario for steel as rates were already increased earlier this year and after the Russia-Ukraine war began.
However, he expects steel prices in India to likely rise in the range of ₹8,000-8,500 per tonne in the first quarter of 2022-23 as compared to the fourth quarter of last fiscal.
The CEO and MD said the demand-supply situation in the steel industry is more balanced at present and this will continue for some time.
On geographical change, Narendran said, “We are now at a stage where a few things have changed… one is China is no longer exporting as much steel as it used to in the past, other big exporting countries like Japan and Korea are also reducing shipments because they don’t want to import raw materials, leave a carbon footprint and export steel.” Adding further he said, “Therefore, we’re seeing a greater restraint being exercised by most countries which have traditionally been big exporters. In Europe, Ukraine and Russia have also been large exporters, but owing to this war, they are also not in the market.”Narendra expects steel consumption to continue on its growth path in India, South East Asia, and Africa, whereas demand in mature markets is likely to be sombre.
On the domestic front, Narendran said India is fundamentally a good place to manufacture steel, adding, as it has iron ore, unlike most of the other big, steel-producing countries.
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