Tata Steel clocks 3% rise in October-December sales

NEW DELHI: Tata Steel's sales from its Indian operation grew by 3.05 per cent at 2.13 million tonnes (MT) during the October-December period buoyed by higher demand from the automobile sector.

The company, which runs a 9.7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) steel plant at Jamshedpur, had clocked 2.06 MT sales in the third quarter of the last fiscal.

In a statement issued today, the company said sales to automotive sector was the "best-ever" at 0.34 MT surpassing the previously record of 0.28 MT clocked in the same quarter of last fiscal.

Production of saleable steel during the quarter increased by 3.3 per cent to 2.22 MT from 2.15 MT during the year-ago period.

Hot metal production grew by 2.8 per cent to 2.38 MT in the reporting quarter from 2.31 MT; while crude steel output rose by 5.56 per cent to 2.28 MT from 2.16 MT.

Its pellet plant also achieved the best-ever production during the third quarter at 1.03 MT, the company said.

Tata Steel's total sales during the April-December period of the current fiscal stood at 6.342 MT, compared to 6.109 MT a year earlier. Production of hot metal grew to 7.487 MT from 7.241 MT.