India's worst coronavirus outbreak is causing growing problems for national steel companies. Some small factories have come to a standstill due to lockdowns and increased worker morbidity. Large companies orient the capacity of their air separation plants to supply oxygen to hospitals.
India's largest steel company, JSW Steel, reported a 10% cut in steel production due to a lack of oxygen for its own needs and a narrowing demand for steel products.
According to the head of the company, Sajjan Jindala, such a crisis situation will last for several more months. Today JSW is the leading supplier of medical liquid oxygen in the country. The volume of its shipment is approximately 1200 tons per day.
Due to the coronavirus, the work of industrial enterprises was disrupted. In particular, Maruti Suzuki, India's largest automaker, has suspended some of its factories and cut production.
According to the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry of India, in April, steel production in the country fell by 21% compared to March to 7.96 million tons. At the same time, JSW Steel reduced production by only 5%, but the state-owned company SAIL - by 24%. Mini-factories without blast furnaces cut production by 28%. According to some experts, in the second quarter Indian metallurgists will smelt 20% less steel than in the first quarter.
Tata Steel Corporation announced that due to the coronavirus epidemic, the timing of the project to expand the capacities of the Kalinganagar steel plant is being shifted. Previously, it was assumed that its capacity will be increased from the current 3 million to 8 million tons per year at the end of 2022. Now the completion of the project is scheduled for 2023/2024 fiscal year (April / March).
