It is in talks with about five foreign banks to raise five-year loans, market sources said. The syndication has not yet started formally.
“The company looks to shore up cash levels as it is readying expansion plans,” one of the persons cited above told ET.
JSW Steel completed the acquisition of and Power earlier in March this year. The company is currently in an expansion mode to reach around 38 million tonnes of steelmaking capacity by 2024, making it the largest steelmaker in the country, with Tata Steel currently at 33 million tonnes and SAIL around 22 million tonnes.
JSW Steel did not respond to ET’s queries.
“Today, we are at 18 mtpa in JSW Steel, another 3 MT in Bhushan and 1 MT at Monnet. Another 5 MT at Dolvi gets completed in September of this year,” said joint managing director Seshagiri Rao in an earlier interaction with ET.
The company spent Rs 2,688 crore on Capex, against a total planned Capex spend of Rs 18,240 crore for FY22. The company earlier said that it is planning to invest another Rs 25,115 crore by 2024-25 to ramp up capacity.
CARE, a local rating company, revised the steel maker’s creditworthiness to AA from AA-. The outlook remains stable. This rating revision was for long-term bank facilities.
The revision in ratings reflects sustained improvement in the operational and financial performance of the company, on the back of revival in demand and steel prices from Q2-FY21 onwards, CARE said in a note. “Though leveraged, the capital structure has also witnessed an improvement,” it said.
The revision factors in the rating company’s expectations of a revival in steel demand and completion of the enhanced capacity of 5 mtpa at Dolvi. This would result in a considerable increase in the company’s sales volumes.
JSW Steel last week reported a record quarterly net profit at Rs 5,900 crore against a loss of Rs 554 crore in the year-ago period. JSW Steel’s net debt stood at Rs 54,89 crore, up marginally by 0.8 per cent. Its cash balance is at Rs 8,602 crore.
