Steel Products

JSW USA Fiscal Q1 Earnings Up on Higher Slab, Plate Sales

July 28, 2023

Indian steelmaker JSW Steel reported improved performance at its JSW Steel USA operations in the first quarter of its 2024 fiscal year.

Recall that JSW operates a sheet and slab mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and a plate and pipe mill in Baytown, Texas. The Mingo mill makes slabs not only for internal consumption but also for sale to third parties.

Overall crude steel output at the Ohio mill was up 54% year over year (YoY). Slab sales jumped 176% YoY to 181,164 tons, while HRC sales fell 31% to 75,199 net tons. Operating ebidta at Mingo more than doubled to $2.6 million vs. $1.14 million a year earlier, JSW said.

The Texas mill posted ebitda of $44.96 million, up 36% year over year. The plate mill operated at a capacity utilization of 49% and while the pipe mill reported capacity utilization of 8%. Plate sales rose 33% YoY to 108,519 tons. Pipe sales jumped 144% to 11,383 tons in the same comparison.

“We see some of the impacts of the global headwinds as a possible impact on our US operations, especially in Ohio,” JSW Steel CEO Jayant Acharya said in a FY Q1’24 earnings call. “But in Baytown, we continue to expect to do well on improved volumes and demand led by the renewable sector.”

Recall that JSW Steel USA said in May it plans to invest $145 million at Mingo Junction for upgrades to meet anticipated demand for steel that was melted and manufactured in the US.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.