Indian steelmakers are likely to cut production or shut down some facilities amid the impact of the coronavirus. Tata Steel is reportedly closing down its downstream rolling mills in Maharashtra with a capacity of 1.5 million mt and in Uttar Pradesh, while its main sites at Jamshedpur, Kaliganagar and Angul are operational.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India will reduce production due to problems with logistics and lower demand, SteelOrbis understands. Another major steelmaker Jindal Steel & Power is currently operational: however, if the situation continues for more than a week then it may impact production. JSPL expects to produce 8.5 million mt of crude steel for the financial year 2020-21.
One of the main issues facing the Indian steel industry is that most trucking activities have been prevented because of the lockdown, which affects the transport of consumables and spare parts.
Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of Steel has directed all government owned and operated steel companies and mineral producers not to resort to production cuts following a meeting held with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), long steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), iron ore miner NMDC Limited, manganese ore miner MOIL Limited, and KIOCL Limited (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited), a government official said on Tuesday, March 24. At the same time, the government has directed that no worker or employee, directly employed or employed on a contract basis should face lay-offs or wage cuts in the coming months.
Steel company representatives have informed that government that there have been several cases of road transport carrying finished steel products from the mills and bringing raw materials into the mills being blocked by local authorities and they have called on the central government to take up the issue with local authorities as steel is not only a critical essential commodity but blast furnaces cannot be stopped and restarted within a short time period.