JSW Steel reported consolidated crude steel production of 23.66 lakh tonnes in February 2026, reflecting a slight year-on-year decline as capacity upgrades at its Vijayanagar plant continued to weigh on output.

The main drag came from the ongoing shutdown of Blast Furnace 3 (BF3) at Vijayanagar, which has been under upgrade since September 2025. This impacted production at the Indian operations level and resulted in a 1% YoY decline for February.Even so, the underlying trend remained stronger than the headline number suggests. Excluding BF3’s contribution from last year’s base, JSW Steel said volumes grew by around 8% YoY, supported by the full ramp-up of JVML operations.

For the market, the update shows that near-term production pressure is largely project-led rather than demand-led. Investors and steel buyers will now watch how quickly the Vijayanagar upgrade is completed and how much additional output the company can unlock once the expanded capacity comes back online.