Falling cost only bright spot for steel makers
Mint Mumbai|June 07, 2023
Steel makers saw some respite in the March quarter (Q4FY23) with volumes and domestic prices rising sequentially. Seasonality had a role to play here as Q4 is usually the strongest quarter. Also, the margin performance improved across most companies.
Vineetha Sampath
Falling cost only bright spot for steel makers

The average domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) price increased by over 6% sequentially in Q4 to 159,228 per tonne, according to SteelMint. This led to an improvement in realization per tonne.

Data from Motilal Oswal Financial Services shows that the average of consolidated realization per tonne of steel companies under its coverage rose by 2,290 sequentially in Q4. These companies are Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and Steel Authority of India Ltd.

However, in QIFY24, margins of steel companies are likely to contract sequentially, given the high-cost inventory of coking coal. True, coking coal spot prices are trending lower, but the gains would reflect in the financials with a lag. In Q1 so far, average prices of coking coal are at $244 per tonne and nearly 29% lower than Q4, according to Coal Mint. Thus, a good share of the benefit from lower coking coal prices would flow through from Q2 onwards.

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