According to Mr HM Nerurkar MD of TATA Steel, TATA Steel plants are running at their peak capacity but the prices for the products are on the lower side, because of global overcapacity.
Mt Nerurkar however optimistic that the positive news for the industry was the restoration of almost normal demand conditions in the global steel market. According to Mr Nerurkar, the GDP growth rate is good, the demand for steel is good in the country and so the company’s plants were running to their highest capacity.
While overall consumption of steel in the world in 2010 is expected to claw back to the same level as seen in 2007, China, India, Brazil and Southeast Asia will consume more steel next year. But his assessment was that consumption in North America, Japan and Europe will stagnate, resulting in sustained weak global steel prices going into the next year.
Speaking about the India operations, Mr Nerurkar said that the company now planned to focus on attaining maximum productivity, lowering costs and speeding up our expansion programs like that of 3 million tonne and the Orissa project.
