Tata Steel Ltd (TSL) on Thursday said its consolidated sales fell 22.8 percent to 5.28 million tonnes (MT) during April-June quarter 2020 as compared to consolidated sales of 6.84 MT in the year-ago period, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted operations.

The consolidated production during the quarter also fell 28.49 percent to 5.52 MT from 7.72 MT in the first quarter of 2019-20, TSL said in a regulatory filing.

In the just concluded quarter, TSL's India sales were at 2.92 MT, down from 3.96 MT in the year-ago period, while the production volume fell to 2.99 MT from 4.5 MT.

The company's sales in Europe fell to 1.94 MT from 2.26 MT in the year-ago period, while production fell to 2.14 MT from 2.65 MT.

Tata Steel South East Asia registered sales of 0.42 MT compared to 0.62 MT in first quarter of 2019-20, while the output was at 0.39 MT, as against 0.57 MT in the same quarter a year ago.

Tata Steel said overall first quarter of 2020-21 production and sales volumes were lower as the outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuing mobility restrictions severally impacted industrial activity and consumer sentiment across all geographies.

"In India, capacity utilisation of our upstream facilities was adjusted to about 50 percent level in April while our downstream units were closed, the company said.

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With the phased opening of the economy, the company stated that the utilisation levels have been ramped up gradually to around 80 percent level by end of June, adding that downstream facilities have also been restarted and are being ramped up progressively.

Tata Steel said to counter the closure of the Indian markets in April and May, export was ramped up significantly by tapping new markets and improving the supply chain capability and will constitute around 50 percent of total sales volume in the first quarter of 2020-21.

"While April and May sales were lower, sales improved significantly in June as economic activity resumed in India. With the continued opening of the economy and the improvement in domestic demand, the proportion of domestic sales will increase from second quarter," the company added.

Tata Steel said while urban markets are showing slow recovery, retail sales, especially in rural markets, are seeing an improvement in demand.

Shares of Tata Steel were trading 3.13 percent higher at Rs 344.65 apiece on BSE.

First Published:Jul 9, 2020 12:18 PM IST