India’s JSW Steel’s Q1 steel production for FY 2021-2022 (period ending March 31, 2022) may get affected following the government’s ban on using oxygen for industrial purposes. Capacity utilization has reduced to 91pc from 96pc in the last quarter of the previous financial year.
Sheshagiri Rao MVS, joint managing director, noted in a media statement on Thursday that the company’s May output will be 4.5pc lower than April production.
The Indian government has stopped steelmakers from using oxygen for manufacturing to make up for the short supply in hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. The company hopes that this ban will not affect the remaining three quarters of the fiscal.
JSW supplied about 20,000mt of medical oxygen in April 2021, with a daily count of 1,200mt. The company has also planned to increase capacity at its Vijaynagar unit to 12mn mt, however, its recent 3,667acre land deal in Ballari may be put on hold according to media reports on Thursday.