Data: Standard & Poor's Compustat |
OCTOBER 24, 2005
No. 5: Tata Steel B. Muthuraman, 61, CEO since 2001
Steelmaking SALES $3.6 billion PROFITS $820 million
Colleagues in the steel business judge Tata Steel on another basis -- as one of the best-run steel companies in Asia, with profits of $820 million last year. Of course, high steel prices have helped, but Tata Steel has a lot more going for it. It's among the lowest-cost producers in the world, thanks to the fact that Tata gets its iron ore from mines it owns in Jharkhand and efficiently turns it into steel using cutting-edge technology. For now, the company is primarily a domestic steelmaker, but Muthuraman has global designs. Last year, Tata acquired Singapore's NatSteel, which has operations in China, and it's planning to fire up a steel plant in Bangladesh. ``By 2015, we want to be among the top five steel companies in the world,'' says Muthuraman -- while adhering to the exacting corporate code of conduct that Tata Steel considers its most important asset.
BW MALL
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