JSW Steel’s Plans to Invest in U.S. and India amid Steel Sector Revival

Earlier in March this year, the JSW Group had announced its plan to invest USD 500 million to set up one million-tonne steel pipe and plate facility in the U.S. state of Texas. JSW USA (a subsidiary of JSW Group) had signed a memorandum of co-operation with the governor of Texas to develop and augment the steel industry in Texas state.

The company is setting up the technologically advanced and eco-friendly electric arc furnace, slab caster and plate mill. This new facility is expected to be the only melt-and-manufacture plate mill with a contiguous pipe mill in North America. The plant is coming up at Baytown in the mineral-rich state, which is the largest exporter from the U.S. and will be built on 111 acres of land. This capex programme is expected to be completed by March 2020.

JSW Steel proposed another investment of up to USD 500 million in acquiring, enhancing and upgrading Acero Junction Inc, an integrated steel manufacturing unit with a potential capacity of 3 MnT per annum located in Ohio, U.S., in phases.

JSW Steel proposed another investment of up to USD 500 million in acquiring, enhancing and upgrading Acero Junction Inc, an integrated steel manufacturing unit with a potential capacity of three million tonnes per annum (MTPA) located in Ohio, US, in phases. This takes the company’s total investment up to USD 1 billion.

JSW Steel India plans to involve adding value-added products in the portfolio

With the revival in Indian steel sector demand, JSW Steel with 18 million tonnes per annum of installed capacity has announced a capital expenditure plan of INR 44,415 crore to increase this to 24.7 MTPA by FY21.

However, as per the company’s top official, the company plans to add not only volume but value-added products in its portfolio. The company is putting in downstream capacities for colour-coated steel at Vasind, Tarapur and Kalmeshwar, for the consumer appliance industry, and a wire rod mill in Vijayanagar to again cater to some of the long product demands which are coming in.

It is also adding capacities at the hot strip mill in Dolvi (Maharashtra) and is putting up a line all with degassing facilities which can produce steel which is extremely clean for the automotive industry and for various high strength applications.

JSW is also going into roofing and cladding, colour-coated roofing as in rural India, aspirations are changing from thatched and asbestos roofs to coloured roofs. It has also ventured into electrical sheet using technology from (Tokyo-based) JFE.

The company is trying to link with the growth in the economy in India and seeing which are the sectors coming up and are putting in the facilities to meet the demand of those sectors. At present JSW Steel’s specialty steel value-added and special steel accounts for roughly 58% - 60% of the total sales while 5 years ago, it was less than 40%.