Indian Steel Makers Turn Aggressive On Exports Over Rising Inventories in Q3

According to Q3FY19 conference call highlights of major Indian steel companies, it can be inferred that Indian steel mills reported increase in inventory levels amid weak buying and subdued demand in domestic market.Thus its has propelled Indian manufacturers to actively look for export opportunities.

Inventory levels of major steel companies in Q3FY19-

1. JSW Steel reported 300,000 MT sales inventory – In con call of Q3FY19 results, company announced that its sales guidance which was at 16 MnT for FY19 is likely to fall short by 2-3% due to increased inventories of around 3,00,000 tonnes. However company has achieved 11.46 MnT sales in 9M FY19 and are positive to reduce inventory attrition in Q4.

2. SAIL recorded surge in inventory levels in Q3- In con call results of Q3 SAIL highlighted increase in inventory levels of finish steel to 400,000 MT on quarterly basis.However the same surged by 570,000 MT in 9MFY19. However company is planning to liquidate the inventory accumulated in Feb and March.

3. Tata Steel witness drop in sales deliveries- Tata Steel India reported drop of 10% Q-o-Q basis to 3.89 MnT in Q3FY19 in sales deliveries which was 4.32 MnT in Q2FY19.

Meanwhile Tata Steel export sales slashed by 38% to 0.30 MnT in Q3FY19 which was 0.48 MnT in previous quarter. Meanwhile on yearly basis the same moved down by 6% against 0.32 MnT in Q3FY18.

Thus major steelmakers have turned active for exporting steel to global nations with the motive to liquidate inventory levels by the end of this fiscal

1.Recent export tenders floated by SAIL- As SteelMint earlier reported govt owned SAIL has floated an export tender for 5000-8,000 MT prime mild steel hot rolled plated plates from its Rourkela Steel plant on 20th Feb’18 for which material shipping is scheduled by 15 Apr’19. Company has also floated two Billet export tenders for 16,200 MT and 24,300 MT.

2. JSW Steel is also learned to have turned active for flat steel exports in SE Asian countries – As per market sources report to SteelMint. A week ago company concluded a deal for around 20-25,000 MT HRC at USD 540/MT, CFR Vietnam, however confirmation on deal was awaited.