JSW Steel Starts FY26 on a High But Remains Cautious

The steelmaker's first-quarter profit jumped to ₹2,209 cr from ₹867 cr in the year-ago period

- Dipali Banka

JSW Steel Ltd reported better-than-expected profit for the June quarter, driven by higher production and sales volume as well as lower cost of coking coal, a key ingredient.

The steelmaker's first-quarter profit jumped to ₹2,209 crore from ₹867 crore in the same quarter a year ago, according to the company's exchange filings. A key reason for this was improved steel prices, primarily due to the government's 12% safeguard duty to protect the industry from cheap imports of the alloy from China.

"Steel prices rose during the quarter, while sales volumes also picked up due to the ramp-up of the Vijayanagar expansion project," said Suman Kumar, analyst at Dolat Capital.

The rise in steel prices, however, is a temporary phenomenon and the management believes the government needs to do more to ensure greater profitability for Indian steelmakers, he added.

JSW Steel, India's largest steelmaker by capacity, reported consolidated revenue of ₹43,147 crore for the April-June quarter, up from ₹42,943 a year earlier, beating the ₹42,790 crore projection, on average, of 23 analysts polled by Bloomberg.