India’s Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) has forecast that its steel exports will increase to 2.5 million mt in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, compared to outward shipments of 300,000 mt during the previous fiscal year, a company official said on Friday, September 18.
The sharp rise in exports will be through higher contracts for both finished and semis from key export markets like China and Vietnam, backed by orders from Europe and the Middle East which have been looking at sourcing flat products from India, V R Sharma, managing director of JSPL said.
“We have already done 1.6 million mt of exports during April-July 2020 of semi-finished products and plates,” Mr. Sharma said, adding that, since August, the company has also added more customers in Europe, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where demand for flat products, especially steel plates, has gone up sharply.
However from October onwards, in view of rising domestic demand, close to 80 percent of JSPL’s total sales would be in the local market where realizations are very strong, Sharma said.