The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (the Visakhapatnam steel plant) achieved growth of 12 per cent in finished steel production in the first half of the year, according to a press release.
On the sales front, the RINL recorded growth of 16 per cent with sales volume of 1.3 million tonne during the first half of the year. The sales turnover amounted to Rs 5,789 crore. The market continued to be sluggish during the current year, adds the release.
Exports in H1 were the highest since inception at Rs 348 crore, a growth of 63 per cent. The company has taken advantage of depreciation of Rupee by maximising exports and efforts are on to maximize exports during H2 also. The special steel sales and wire rod sales grew by 16 per cent and 63 per cent respectively. The seven new branches of the RINL are also getting stabilised to strengthen the marketing network in the country.
Sinter plant-3 became operational in the current year as a part of the expansion project and the blast furnace-3 which was commissioned last year will reach its rated capacity within a few months. The new steel melt shop (SMS) has been commissioned and heats are planned to be taken from October.
To meet the additional requirement of power, the RINL has maximised its captive power generation by achieving growth of 9 per cent during H1. The new units of 67.5 MW using blast furnace gas and partly coal and 20.6 MW using only waste heat from sinter plant are to be made operational in the third quarter.