JSW Steel Becomes World’s Most Valuable Steelmaker with $30.3 Billion Market Cap

JSW Steel headed by Sajjan Jindal turns out to be the world’s most valuable steel manufacturer, surpassing global heavyweights like ArcelorMittal and Nucor Corporation. According to Bloomberg data, JSW Steel now has a capitalisation of the market at $30.31 billion, also surpassing ArcelorMittal’s $27.14 billion and Nucor’s $29.4 billion.

JSW may have outpaced in the market value, but ArcelorMittal is still miles ahead in revenue, which stood at $62.4 billion in the last 12 months, compared to $21.1 billion for JSW. Though JSW Steel is quoted at a much higher price-to-earnings multiple of 28.5x as compared to the like of ArcelorMittal, these valuations seem to reflect the future growth trajectory of JSW Steel, which investors are willing to pay as compared to ArcelorMittal, whose p/e comes around to be 20.3x.

This is a huge milestone for the Indian steel industry and a testament to the growing voice of Indian producers in global steel. Starting over 30 years ago as a one-plant facility in Karnataka, JSW Steel has become the largest integrated steelmaker in India, with 35.7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of production capacity across India and the US. This includes 6 mtpa which is currently under commissioning.

JSW’s expansion has been bolstered by the acquisitions of Ispat Industries and Bhushan Power & Steel. The company has now set a target to increase capacity to 51.5 mtpa by FY31 of which 50 mtpa will be in India.

The steelmaker’s share price has risen over 17% since January, buoyed by increasing steel prices and hopes government action to control low-priced imports would be implemented. On March 18, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies recommended a safeguard for 200 days at a rate of 12% on certain steel flat products, which was expected to benefit domestic players such as JSW Steel and Tata Steel.

Aiding momentum, JSW Steel’s ₹1,676.45 crore share buyback plan for its Italian arm, Piombino Steel, along with the transfer of its Salav unit in Maharashtra to JSW Green Steel, a wholly owned subsidiary, to simplify ops.

Parth Jindal, the managing director of JSW Cement and JSW Paints, took pride in social media, labeling it the “humbled moment” for the JSW family and vowing for more growth.