Tata Steel Ltd (TSL) on Wednesday said its consolidated sales fell by over 11 per cent to 7 million tonne (MT) during March quarter 2020 as compared to the year-ago period, hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

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The consolidated production during the quarter increased by over 1.5 per cent to 7.84 MT from 7.72 MT in January-March 2019, TSL said in a statement.

In the just concluded quarter, TSL's India sales were at 4.03 MT, down from 4.72 MT in the year-ago period, while the output increased to 4.74 MT from 4.48 MT.

The company's sales in Europe fell to 2.37 MT from 2.57 MT in the year-ago period, while production also fell to 2.56 MT from 2.73 MT.

Tata Steel South East Asia registered almost flat sales at 0.60 MT compared to 0.59 MT in January-March 2019, while the output was at 0.54 MT, marginally up from 0.51 MT in the same quarter a year ago.

"As per notifications from central and state governments, steel and mining, being essential services and continuous process industries, are exempt from the lockdown measures subject to certain guidelines. However, the lockdown has led to logistic issues and lower demand driven by the shutdown of customer operations in automotive, construction and other segments since last few days of March 2020. "While this affected 4QFY20 sales volumes in India, production volume grew. Tata Steel India also achieved an 8 per cent y-o-y production growth for full year FY20, along with the best ever annual sales," the company said in a statement.

This was supported by ramp up of Tata Steel BSL and acquisition of Usha Martin Steel business by Tata Steel Long product. Tata Steel BSL also recorded its best ever annual performance, it said. In Europe also, the company said, it is cooperating with national guidelines of the relevant countries to combat COVID-19.

Despite macro headwinds, the company said it was able to keep production and sales stable in fourth quarter. Overall European steel demand has declined compared to the normal conditions as many customers, including European car manufacturers, have currently paused production.

"The utilization levels are currently around 70 per cent and dispatches are continuing in both the UK and the Netherlands," the company said.