Tata Steel appears to be regaining favour a few weeks after facing difficult policy headwinds when the Indian government imposed hefty export duties to control steel prices in the country. Analysts have revised their outlook from'stable' to 'positive' and 'overweight.' The chairman of Tata Steel N Chandrasekaran is hoping that the government's increase in export duties is only a temporary measure.
“The government has been taking industry-specific steps to tackle inflation which we hope would be short-term measures. The steel industry in India is globally competitive and therefore Indian steel companies should be able to expand capacity,” the company’s chairman N Chandrasekaran said.
However, rating agencies' revisions have not yet taken into account the government's decision to reverse the steel export duty hike. While Chandrasekaran hopes for it, he is not entirely reliant on it.
“To be more resilient to changing market demands and diversify its product portfolio and tap the growth opportunity in new materials, the company ventured into the new materials business comprising major verticals of composites, graphene and advanced ceramics including medical materials,” he said at the company’s annual general meeting held yesterday.