Indian steel group JSW Steel Limited announced this week its financial and operating results for the third quarter (ended December 31, 2018) and the first nine months of the fiscal year 2018-19.
In the third quarter, the group's turnover grew by nine percent year on year, reaching approximately INR 179.5 billion ($2.57 billion), while its net profit reached INR 18.9 billion ($264.6 million).
The group produced a total of 4.23 million tons of steel in the third quarter (+ 3%), while it produced 12.52 million mt in the April-December period (+ 5%). In the third quarter, the increase in production was helped by a higher capacity utilization at Vijayanagar and Dolvi.
Recent results in the US and Italian subsidiaries, respectively Acero and Aferpi, have weighed on JSW's quarterly results. For JSW Steel USA Ohio (Acero), the production of the third fiscal quarter was 55,438 net tons, while the sales volumes amounted to 47,339 net tons.
Concerning JSW Steel Italy (Aferpi), in the October-December period production was 68,036 tons, while the sales volumes amounted to 45,948 tons.
JSW stressed, however, that both subsidiaries are in a ramp-up phase. In particular, JSW Steel USA Ohio (Acero) has started production from HMS and a progressive ramp-up is expected during the course of FY 2019-20. Its electric arc furnace and its slab caster went into operation in December 2018 and are also being ramped up. Regarding Aferpi, the Indian group recalled that the production of the rolling mill was started in November 2018, while that of the bar rod mill commenced in January this year.