Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the country’s largest steel-making CPSE, expects an improvement in bottom-line September onwards as average selling prices improve.
According to Anil Kumar Tulsiani, Director (Finance), SAIL, the average sale price (ASP) in Q2FY24 (July - September) is likely to be lower but is projected to improve “onwards the second fortnight of September”. The Q2 period generally covers the monsoon, a lean period in commodity demand.
The blended hard coking coal cost, which was around ₹25,800 per tonne in Q1FY24, is expected to reduce to ₹22,000-23,000 per tonne in 2QFY24. Benefits of lower coking coal prices are expected to come into play in the last fortnight of July–September period.
In Q1, SAIL’s cost of imported coal was ₹28,000 per tonne, while domestic coal cost was ₹12,000 per tonne. Blending was in the ratio of 85:15 (imported to indigenous).
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