JSW group reconfirmed its plan of setting up a 13.2mn mt annual capacity steel plant in Odisha. The group’s chairman Sajjan Jindal reassured the Odisha State government in a video conference that JSW Steel will soon build the plant in Jagatsinghpur district.
The State has allocated land, water and power supply for the steel complex in which JSW group will invest over Rs1 trillion ($13.4bn) over the next 10 years, according to local media. In January, the residents of the area consented to the building of the steel plant. Earlier, the residents had protested against the construction of a similar plant by the South Korean steelmaker Posco at the same site, following which Posco backed-off in 2017.
Odisha mines
Mining operations have commenced at JSW Steel’s newly secured captive mines in Odisha. The company won four mines in the State in auctions that took place early this year. The mines have started dispatching ores to JSW Steel’s plants in India. JSW Steel’s operations in India require 25 to 30mn mt iron ore.
Besides Odisha, JSW has six mines in Karnataka, including three new mines from the latest auction, to supply ores for its Vijayanagar works. Ores available in Odisha can fully meet the steelmaking requirement of Dolvi or Salem. The company also has in place infrastructure to lift 18mn mt iron ore from Paradip Port and supply it to Dolvi, Salem and Vijayanagar steelworks. These captive iron ore reserves of around 1.2bn mt could significantly improve operational efficiency of the company.
Capacity expansion
JSW Steel plans to expand its steelmaking capacity in India to 45mn mt by 2030 from its current 18mn mt annual capacity. In Q1, JSW Steel completed the doubling of its annual steelmaking capacity at Dolvi works from 5mn mt to 10mn mt which will strengthen the company’s flat products mix. The company is also increasing its downstream capacities at various steelworks including Vijayanagar. Most of these projects will get commissioned in FY2021.
Among its overseas operations, JSW Steel is investing $1bn to transform the Ohio plant to produce steel slabs instead of its earlier focus on coils. The company has idled operations at Ohio plant to upgrade its EAF and slab caster. The integrated steel plant has an installed capacity to produced 3mn mt steel, annually. JSW aims to strengthen the combined capacity of JSW USA to 4mn mt, with 3mn mt at Acero and 1mn mt at Baytown. The company plans to increase its overseas annual steel capacity to 10mn mt by 2030.
($1=74.35)