JSW Steel, which had cut
production to 30 per cent of installed capacity at its 10-million tons-per-annum
(mtpa) Karnataka unit after the ban on mining and sale of iron ore, is
optimistic of restoring normal output by the end of this The company
grabbed the bulk of what was offered at yesterday’s Supreme Court-authorised
e-auction of ore, the third in the series. It hopes to stock close to one
month’s inventory at its Vijayanagar plant, situated at Toranagallu in Bellary
district.
At yesterday’s auction, JSW
picked up 1.35 million tones, about 65 per cent of what was put up. With this,
it has purchased a total of 1.85 mt, about 55 per cent of the total of 3.3 mt
sold at the auctions since September 14. It requires close to 1.5 mt (of 63 per
cent iron-content grade and above) running the plant for a month. It needs 1.8
mt if the iron level goes down to 58 per cent grade.
“We have a storage capacity up to
4 mt at Toranagallu. With the regular auctions, we wish to purchase up to this
level in October and by the end of the month, we can bring back the production
to normal levels,†Vinod Nowal, director and CEO, JSW Steel, told Business
Standard.
30 per cent capacity utilization
is the minimum needed to keep the 10 mtpa Vijayanagar plant running.
A company spokesperson said a
hitch in administrative procedures had affected timely dispatch of iron ore.
With about 20,000 tons ore coming from Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh,
along with the ore bought at auctions, the company would achieve near-100 per
cent capacity utilization by October 28, he said.
The Supreme Court-appointed
monitoring committee had put on auction about 2.1 mt yesterday, spread over 90
lots. The next auctions are scheduled on October 12.
Nowal said of the 25 mt scheduled
to be put on auction, only about 18 mt was of high-grade ore. The rest was ore
below the 52 per cent iron grade. These cannot be used by steel mills, as there
is no technology to use such ore in the country. “The high-grade ore available
at the stockpile can be used for about 10 months and we hope regular mining
would resume in due course,†he said.
Source: BL
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