Major Indian steelmaker JSW Steel (JSW) has announced its financial and operational results for the second quarter ended September 30 of the financial year 2013-14, posting a net loss of INR 1.15 billion ($18.7 million), compared to a net profit of INR 6.9 billion in the same period of the previous year. In the second quarter of FY 2013-14, JSW reported its highest-ever quarterly sales of INR 138.6 billion ($2.25 billion), up 35 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In the second quarter of the current financial year, JSW produced 2.98 million mt of crude steel, up 37 percent year on year. In the given quarter, JSW saw a 56 percent increase in its flat rolled production and 14 percent growth in its long rolled product output, both compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the second quarter this year, JSW produced 2.6 million mt of flat rolled steel and 460,000 mt of long steel.
According to JSW Steel, Indian steel demand for the second quarter remained flattish with just 1.3 percent year-on-year growth. However, net imports have come down significantly resulting in an improvement in steel prices. Higher rural spending on the back of a good monsoon and an expected uptick in the investment cycle driven by the push made by India's Cabinet Committee on Investment is likely to support an improvement in steel demand growth in the second half of the current financial year.
Meanwhile, JSW Steel also stated that its auto grade steel rolling plant, which is India's largest, rolled its first coil on October 19 at the Vijayanagar works.