SteelMint analyst
spoke to Mr. Ashok Surana, President of Re-roller Association, Chhattisgarh on
Cabinet Steel Minister – Beni Pradas Verma's visit to Chhattisgarh. The
following is an extract of the interview.
Q. What was your
proposal to the Cabinet Steel Minister?
A. We put forward some
proposals to the Minister. They are as follows:
i. A
notification for Steel Products Quality Control Order 2007 should be reviewed
as raw materials are not being tested presently. In Parliament, the message has
been put forward. The Cabinet Minister will speak to Government of India and it
is expected to be implemented in September this year.
ii. BIS, Bureau of
Indian Standard should be mandatory for Sponge Iron manufacturers and mini
steel plants. They should have their own laboratory to test materials and
equipments.
iii. The MOU with
Bhilai Steel Plant which states BSP should supply 24,000 tons of Pig Iron
material to around 300 mini furnaces in the state has not happened in the last
four months. BSP's Pig Iron production from few months is going in for captive
use and supply to other small plants is therefore not happening. The Cabinet
Minister has indicated to speak to the Managing Director of Bhilai Steel Plant
on this matter.
iv. Imported HMS 1
& 2 scrap to be available in Raipur directly from NHAVA SHEVA and JMPT
ports, Mumbai. Presently, we are importing scrap from Vizag port and paying
high freight charges. The Joint Secretary of Steel Ministry, Mr. Dalit Singh
has put this forward to the Finance Ministry.
Q. How is the steel
demand at present?
A. Demand is moderate
and is expected to improve further as construction activities will pick up
before the arrival of monsoon.
Q. At what capacity
are plants running for now?
A. Production capacity
has come down to around 50% as buying volume is low.
Q. Is the liquidity
problem in steel industry affecting markets?
A. Market is
witnessing heavy liquidity crunch at the moment. Slow off-take of material is a
prime reason. Power cost has also been increased.
Q. Where do you see
steel prices heading?
A. We feel offers will
rise as there is scarcity of material in the market and this scarcity may
extend during the monsoon season. Stocking of material may start taking place
as price look up.
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