The Hindu Business Line : SAIL plants achieve over 100 pc capacity utilisation

In a continuation of the trend set after achieving record profits in the last two successive quarters, SAIL plants, for the first time, crossed the mark of 100 per cent capacity utilisation.

During the first five months of 2003-04, the plants operated at 102 per cent of their installed production capacity, according to a SAIL statement here.

During April-August this year, the public sector steel major achieved a record production of 4.34 million tonnes of saleable steel, which works out to a growth of eight per cent. Showing all-round improvement, it also recorded the highest ever sales of mild steel at 4.1 million tonnes, a growth of 11 per cent. In the five-month period, SAIL achieved the highest ever export of 5.1 lakh tonnes to clock a growth of 126 per cent on this front.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal, SAIL witnessed a 14 per cent surge in turnover at Rs 4,765 crore. Its turnaround process, the statement said, is built on the solid foundation of an overall improvement in all areas, including techno-economic parameters. The coke rate in its plants has been showing a downward trend while its energy consumption has also come down by about three per cent over the same period last year.

The thrust on quality continued with the SAIL plants producing 12 per cent more steel through the energy-efficient continuous casting route in April-August 2003. Strengthening operational and efficiency parameters, the steel giant also succeeded in lowering its cost of production during April-August 2002-03 as compared to the like period in the previous fiscal, the statement said.

Stepping up its marketing efforts, SAIL maximised steel supplies to rural areas through 75 dealers spread over 60 different locations in the country. One of the major marketing initiatives taken by the steel major in the recent past was the formation of a separate warehousing division to streamline its logistics management.

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