Tata Steel’s European production drops 12.5% in Oct-Dec, deliveries down 9.5%

Tata Steel’s European-based steel production fell by 12.5% year on year during the three months to Dec. 31 while its deliveries declined 9.5%, according to company data released Jan. 6.

Tata Steel Europe’s production totaled 2.25 million mt in its third quarter, dipping 12.5% from 2.57 million mt during the same three-month period the year before and down 6.3% from the July-September quarter.

Quarterly European deliveries totaled 1.96 million mt, down 9.5% from 2.16 million mt a year earlier but up 4.8% from 1.87 million mt delivered during the prior quarter.

The latest quarterly output figures bring the cumulative production total for the nine months to Dec. 31 to 7.08 million mt, down 10.2% year-on-year, while corresponding deliveries reached 5.98 million mt, down 9.7% year-on-year.

Many European producers have been forced to curtail steel production in recent months due to high energy prices arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest Europe hot-rolled coil at Eur700/mt ($747mt) ex-works Ruhr on Dec. 30, down 24% from the start of 2022.

Indian production, deliveries up across all segments

In India, Tata Steel reported output at 5.00 million mt for the October-December quarter, up 4.0% year on year and 4.1 % higher than production volumes for the prior quarter. The latest production figures lifted cumulative production for the nine months to Dec. 31 to 14.72 million mt, up 4.0% year on year.

Indian deliveries for the quarter increased to a 4.73 million mt, up 7.0% year on year, but were down 3.7% on a quarterly basis. Total deliveries for the nine months to Dec. 31 were up 4.3% year-on-year to a record 13.71 million mt.

Deliveries to the Automotive & Special Products segment during the nine months to Dec. 31 increase 7% year on year to approximately 2 million mt while deliveries across the Industrial Products & Products and Branded Products & Retail segments rose to around 5.2 million (up 13% year on year) and 4.1 million mt (up 10%).

Tata Steel also said that the Neelachal Ispat Nigam plant in Kalinganagar, which the company acquired in July, has started operations and is in the process of increasing production to rated capacity of approximately 1 million mt/year.

Indian steel demand has risen over the past year, supported by government investment infrastructure projects and a recovery across the domestic automotive industry.

Platts assessed the India domestic hot rolled coil price at $687.06/mt ex-works Mumbai on Jan. 9, up 0.8% from $681.28/mt on Dec. 1.

— Euan Sadden