Jindal Steel Q1 net seen doubling as sales rise

Tag : steel flats

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Jindal Steel and Power Ltd's quarterly profitis likely to double, with rising steel sales and prices boostingrevenue even as its iron-ore and coal mines insulate it from risingcosts that are affecting peers.
Net profit for the April-June period is forecast to rise to 5.13billion rupees from 2.50 billion rupees in the prior-year quarter,according to a survey of seven analysts by Reuters.
"Steel realisations have gone up. They are into long products,where the price increase has been more than in flats," PallavAggarwal, a steel analyst at brokerage firm MF Global-SifySecurities India, said.
"Unlike others, they are also more integrated," he added, referingto the cost-price advantage Jindal has over peers as it can sourcekey raw materials from its captive mines.
For instance, rising costs have led analysts to forecast a 29percent profit drop for JSW Steel Ltd, the country's third largestproducer of the alloy, when it publishes results later this month.
Prices of iron ore and coal have steeply risen on strong demand forsteel from housing, infrastructure and auto sectors.
Steel makers across Asia are following leads from China, afterBaosteel recently agreed to a near-doubling of iron-ore contractprices with Rio Tinto and BHP Billition Ltd/Plc.
Asian benchmark thermal coal prices have tripled over the past yearto reach a record $201 a tonne on July 1.
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