Tata Steel to hike auto-grade steel output by 20 per cent

With increasing demand for steel from the auto sector, Tata Steel says it would increase production of auto-grade steel by 20 per cent to 1.2 MT this fiscal.

The steelmaker expects to continue a similar capacity increase in auto steel over the next few years, while launching operations at a new 0.6MT capacity joint venture facility with Japanese steelmaker Nippon for high strength auto steel by 2013.

Tata Steel managing director, H M Nerurkar told Business Line that in 2010-11 the company supplied 1MT of auto grade steel and this year it was aiming to touch 1.2 MT. He added the company had to increase capacity every year by 15-20 per cent to meet the growing demand from the auto sector.

Nerurkar was speaking at an event held to mark the selection of the company as the only Indian firm in Fortune magazine's 2011 list of World's Most Admired Companies.

Tata Steel supplies over 40 per cent of the domestic steel consumed by the automotive industry in India. The company is also adding a new 0.3MT cold rolling mill at Jamshedpur, that will see the output of an existing mill increase from 1.5MT to 2.2MT, he said.

Nerurkar said he did not see steel prices going up this month or in July, when asked about the outlook on steel prices.