In a record of sorts, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) has floated an import tender for 50,000 tonnes (t) of billets.
“An import tender is being floated after a very long time. This has not been done in recent history at least,” a company source informed SteelMint.
Owing to shortage of domestic billets, the company has floated this buy tender, SteelMint understands.
The last date and time for receipt of the tender is 13 March, 2023. Price bids are to be submitted electronically through Vizag Steel Plant’s SRM portal and the material is to be delivered by 31 March, 2023. The minimum offer quantity is 7,500 tonnes. In case the same is below 7,500 t then it will be rejected, as per a company statement.
RINL will analyse the bids received and in case these are too high, it may do reverse auction or drop the tender, SteelMint learnt.
Third BF still not functioning
RINL is still operating with only two functioning blast furnaces (BFs) and this could be a reason for the import tender – to supplement its production. The third one has been out of operation for more than a year now. The other two are functioning at around 15,000 tonnes per day, a source said, adding: “The peak rated capacity of each BF is 7,150 tpd but each is running at an even higher 7,500 tpd.”
Meanwhile, RINL achieved an average hot metal production of 15,004 tpd in February 2023, which the company said is the best for any month since inception.
There is still no clarity on when the third BF will resume. There could possibly be funding issues, which are hampering its resumption, a source indicated. In fact, the steel ministry, as per media reports, is concerned over the financial viability of RINL and indicated in an internal note of the strong possibility of the company falling into insolvency problem in the short term. The note further said the liquidity crisis has led to production curtailment.
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