Sterlite Industries Ltd (SIL) and Sesa Goa Ltd (SGL), the Vedanta group companies, recorded mixed production performance in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal. The merger of the two companies and the consolidation of the Vedanta group, announced earlier, were expected to be completed in the calendar year 2012, SIL said in a statement.
While Sterlite Industries registered record production of lead, silver and power, SGL's performance was impacted by the continued ban on mining in Karnataka and transport/logistics bottlenecks in Goa, both companies informed separately the stock exchanges today.
SIL said the domestically mined zinc-lead metal production was 2.23 lakh tonnes in the fourth quarter, an increase of 7 per cent compared with the third quarter.
But annually, mined zinc-lead metal production was slightly less at 8.3 lakh tonnes. Silver production registered a 77 per cent jump to 88 tonnes in the last quarter of last year because of ramping up of the SK mine, the new 100 kilotonne-a-year (ktpa) Dariba lead smelter and the new silver refinery. For the full year, silver production was up by 35 per cent at 242 tonnes.
Power sales
Copper cathode production at the Tuticorin smelter was 80,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of last year and mined metal production in the Australian mines was 5,000 tonnes, both in line with the corresponding quarters earlier. In case of aluminium, production at Balco-II smelter was 62,000 tonnes, in line with the corresponding quarter earlier. The first metal tapping from the 325-ktpa Balco-III aluminium smelter is expected by the third quarter of the current fiscal and the first 300-MW unit of the 1,200-MW captive power plant at Balco will be synchronised in the current quarter.
On the power front, SIL said power sales during the fourth quarter of 2011-12 was 2,166 million units compared with 1,040 million units in the corresponding earlier quarter. For the full year the production was 7,579 million units (2,680 mu). Three new 600-MW units of the Jharsuguda 2,400-MW power plant became operational.
SIL said that work at the 1,980-MW power project at Talwandi Sabo was progressing well and the first 660-MW unit was on track for synchronisation in the fourth quarter this year. The 150-MW wind power expansion at HZL was completed during the fourth quarter, taking the total wind power generation capacity to around 274 MW.
Sesa Goa recorded sale of iron ore of 5.2 million tonnes in the fourth quarter of last fiscal compared to 6.6 million tonnes in the corresponding quarter earlier due to the mining ban in Karnataka, and transport and logistics bottlenecks in Goa. The company was improving the roads to reduce the bottlenecks. For the full year, iron ore sales were 16 million tonnes compared with 18.1 million tonnes in the previous year.
Iron ore production in the fourth quarter fell by 11 per cent to 4.9 million tonnes and for the full year production was 13.8 million tonnes compared with 18.8 million tonnes in the previous fiscal. Volumes fell mainly because of the Karnataka mining ban and discontinuation of Orissa operations, SGL said.
Expansion of pig iron capacity to 625 ktpa and metallurgical coke to 560 ktpa were progressing well and will be commissioned in the current quarter, the company said.
Sterlite shares closed on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 104.25, down Rs 1.50.