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India's steel giants invest billions in order to meet the booming local demand

Indian steel producers including JSW Steel Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd. are expected to invest in record-breaking capacity increases to take advantage of rising domestic demand. India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

Steel makers are flocking to India because of the booming economy and improved infrastructure. In Europe and America, the demand for steel is declining.

Analysts and data from companies showed that major mills planned to increase their capacity by at least 22, million metric tons during the fiscal year starting April 2024.

Tata Steel announced that it would add 5 million tons of capacity to its 21 million ton capacity. Jindal Steel and Power will be adding 6 million metric ton to their existing capacity.

JSW Steel, India’s largest steel manufacturer, stated in its results reports that it plans to increase domestic capacity from 27.5 to 38.5 millions tons by 2024/25.

Analysts, who predicted that the expansion would be in the billions, said the companies have not disclosed how much they will spend on capacity.

Hui Ting Sim is an assistant vice-president at Moody's Ratings Singapore. She said that JSW Steel would spend between $2 and $2.2 billion per year on brownfield expansions. This includes increasing its iron mining capacity in Odisha as well as implementing raw material efficiency programs.

JSW Steel announced in February that it would invest with Japan's JFE Steel 55 billion rupees (662.85 millions dollars) in a joint venture in India to produce grain-oriented electric steel used in transformer manufacturing.

Lakshmanan, the head of South & Southeast Asia Corporates at CreditSights, Singapore, stated that Tata Steel is expected to spend $1.21-$1.51billion in 2024/25.

Anshuman Bharati is an analyst with S&P Global Ratings, Singapore. He expects India's consumption of steel to grow between 8-10% in 2024/25.

India's steel demand increased by 14.5% between April and January, reaching a record high of 112.5 millions metric tons.

(source: Reuters)