Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), also known as Vizag Steel, is expecting to be back in the black in fiscal 2018-19 after a gap of 3 years. In the last fiscal, RINL, the second largest steel-making company in the public sector, posted an EBITDA of ₹ 200 crore. In an interaction with the media, CMD of RINL, P Madhusudan, said the outlook for the steel industry is positive, as all the consuming sectors are looking up. RINL is now reaping the benefits of expansion and modernisation, which has stabilised by now, coupled with steady markets, mostly in the southern region. Excerpts:
How was the last fiscal for RINL? What kind of growth do you expect in 2018-19?
We had a good year in 2017-18. The industry expansion and modernisation is happening. External factors, which influenced the market in 2015-16, resulted in stress. This resulted in an operating loss of ₹660 crore for RINL. We made a recovery in 2016-17 and brought down the operating loss to ₹250 crore. The situation has improved further in the last fiscal and I am happy to announce an operating profit of ₹200 crore in 2017-18. RINL is now reaping the benefits of expansion and modernisation, which has stabilised by now coupled, with steady markets, mostly in the southern region.
Our 6.3 million tons per annum (mtpa) expansion has been commissioned. The rated capacity in BF3 is improving and slowly moving towards 100 percent capacity utilisation level. Modernisation of BF2 has been done and all furnaces are working. We have produced 500,000 tons in March 2018. In this run rate, we would be producing 6.5 mtpa crude steel in 2018-19 and saleable steel of around 5.7 mtpa.
How do you see the steel market behaving? What would be the impact on margins?
The markets are also fairly stable now. Coal prices, which had increased, have come down. Markets have absorbed the price and volumes are also available. This has resulted in a positive EBIDTA of ₹200 crore on a sales turnover of ₹16,500 crore, a growth of 31 percent year-on-year.
In Q4, we made a cash profit after two-and-a-half years. This has been possible because of the internal initiatives taken in 2017-18. We have increased the usage of PCI in BF1 and BF3, leveraging on higher PCI rate. This has led to reduced usage of expensive coal.
Denne historien er fra April 2018-utgaven av Steel Insights.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2018-utgaven av Steel Insights.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Steel's Net Zero mission
The country’s commitment to achieving Net Zero within a targeted timeframe will now propel its steel sector towards a sustainable future in line with global trends.
Fuel Price Hike, Supply Chain Disruption Hurt Festive Sales
Supply chain disruptions and fuel price hikes have hurt festive sales in a big way as most auto majors posted decline in sales in October.
Seaborne coking coal offers remain range-bound
Seaborne coking coal offers moved in a narrow range in October amid global supply tightness and healthy spot demand.
Global crude steel output down 8% in September
China manufactured 74 mt in September, fall of 21% y-o-y while India’s production went up by 7% to 10 mt.
MOIL embarks on expansion projects
“Even though our country is blessed with manganese ore reserves, we import 50% of the domestic requirement. We have to lower our import dependence and save precious foreign exchange.” Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, Steel Minister
Iron ore handled by major ports down 17% in H1
The 12 major Indian ports handled 27 mt of iron-ore during H1 of 2021, down by 17% from 33 mt recorded for the corresponding period of previous year.
Shrinking China output to boost India exports
“In the third quarter of 2021, the company actively responded to the pressure from external policies, such as production curtailment and dual control system on energy consumption and intensity, as well as coal resource shortage and surging prices.” Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd
Indian Railways' iron-ore handling up 25% in H1
Indian Railways in April-September of 2021 (H1) transported 84 mt of iron ore, up by 25% over 67 mt during April-September 2020.
September crude steel production up 7.2% y-o-y
India’s crude steel production in September 2021 grew 7.2 percent to 9.547 million tons (mt) over September 2020 but was down by 3.2 percent from August 2021 output, provisional steel ministry data showed.
“Five enablers: way forward to sustainable cleaner steel”
Right and scalable technology, appropriate policy guidance by government, access to finance to fund transition, willingness of customers to pay for cleaner products and infrastructure for use of new technologies are the need of the hour for the sustainable and cleaner steel industry, according to Madhulika Sharma, Chief Corporate Sustainability, Tata Steel.
