JSW Steel sharpens expansion roadmap, eyes 56 mtpa capacity by FY31

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: JSW Steel, India’s largest steelmaker by capacity, is accelerating its expansion plans and now expects to reach around 56 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by FY31, overshooting its earlier guidance of 50 mtpa, according to the company’s top executive. The higher target comes as the company emerges from a period of weak steel prices and margin pressure, even as it steps up efforts to secure raw materials and looks for early signs of a recovery in demand.

The 56 mtpa target excludes the company’s recently inked joint venture with Japan's JFE Steel Corp., under which JSW sold half its stake in subsidiary Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL). Including BPSL, the company was likely to top 60 mtpa by FY31, said Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and chief executive officer, in an interview with Mint. “So we expect to be—without the expansion of the BPSL joint venture—at 56 million tonnes by the end of (FY) 2031," Acharya said.

Out of that 1.5 mtpa will be in the US, while the remaining 54.5 mtpa will be in India. In addition, the management sees further upside from BPSL, where capacity could potentially be expanded to 10 million tonnes from the current 4.5 million tonnes, although this will be pursued independently by the joint venture partners. “That will be a parallel track which the joint venture partners will decide and then take on," Acharya said.

The company has also charted a plan to spend ₹1 trillion over the next four to five years for capacity expansion. “We will give you a break-up year-wise in our annual (and) fourth (quarter) results in May, but roughly four to five years, you can spread it equally. It will be a little higher in the next year, next two years, and then