Jindal Steel plans $2.4 bn investments to improve demand prospects

Jindal Steel & Power Limited, one of the foremost steel companies in India, declared plans to spend $2.4 billion to increase capacity throughout the next six years, as the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic boosts the demand for steel. In its August investor presentation, the firm said that the domestic steel prices have recovered from the volatility caused by Covid-19 and are increasingly spurred by developing the prospects of demand. The steelmaker is going to increase its total capacity from 8.6 mt to 15.9 million tons (mt) by March 2025. As per the source, the company plans to double pellet production capacity to 21 million tons by 2024. The steel company has announced that its board had sanctioned fundraising measures that include issuing senior, fixed-rate, non-convertible, unsecured or LIBOR notes worth US $1 billion in a statement to the stock exchanges on Monday. The plans of JSPL cover raising money as a part of its long-term goal to become free of debt and develop the production capacity to 15.9 mt by FY 2024. The steelmaker told the media that its objective is to increase its production capacity to 27 mtpa using clean energy sources in its vision 2030 laid out earlier. It said it was on its way to cutting down its debt while going for a new capital expenditure cycle in May this year. JSPL plans to extend its production capacity from 9 mt as of FY 2021 again at Angul. JSPL is contemplating a foray into container-making from its Angul facility, starting with a manufacturing capacity of 15,000 containers per year. It is also setting up a 2.25 mt hot rolled coil (HRC) plant at Andhra Pradesh in Nellore district, a southern province. The HRC plant will aim for export markets since the plant is situated near Krishnapatnam Port in South India. Naveen Jindal's mill, JSPL Chairman, which was once the largest steelmaker of India by market value, is making new investments for development after aggressively decreasing its debt levels by more than 60% since last year. Image Source Also read: JSPL will invest Rs 1 lakh crore in Odisha for next 10 years Also read: Jindal Steel to launch 2.25 mt steel plant in Andhra Pradesh