JSW Steel, the country’s third-biggest steelmaker, reported a 10 per cent fall in quarterly net profit, beating expectations, and said it expected to operate its main plant at 80 per cent capacity in 2012-13, as iron ore supplies take time to stabilise.
Production at JSW Steel’s 10-million-tonne per year Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka has been affected since August after the Supreme Court put an interim ban on mining in the state, citing illegalities in some mines. While ore supplies have been partially restored through auctions, the Supreme Court last week ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe JSW Steel’s alleged involvement in illegal iron ore mining in the state.