During a speech to company employees on January 2, Prakash Kumar Singh, chairman of Indian state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), stated that the company plans to increase its saleable steel capacity to 20 million mt in the coming period due to the Indian government’s plans to increase investments in the country’s infrastructure and in other sectors, according to media reports. Accordingly, SAIL plans to increase its production capacity to 15 million mt in the current financial year and to 17 million mt in the financial year of 2017-18.
Meanwhile, according to media reports, the increases in coking coal prices and SAIL’s limited ability to pass on the higher costs to its customers due to lower demand and increasing imports are putting pressure on the company’s profitability.