The Hindu Business Line : RINL cuts exports to boost domestic sales

RASHTRIYA Ispat Nigam Ltd (the Visakhapatnam steel plant) has increased its domestic sales considerably and cut down on its exports during the current financial year, in tune with Government policy, the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Y. Siva Sagara Rao, has said.

At a press meet here on Thursday, on the eve of RINL Formation Day, he said the company was set to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 7,500 crores by the year-end. Exports would be to around Rs 250-300 crore, registering a downtrend, but domestic sales would have increased considerably.

The overall growth rate in the sales turnover would be 21 per cent, he said. "We have cut down on exports to make more steel available in the domestic market, but it has had no negative impact on the performance of the company," he said.

He said RINL was likely to end the financial year with 3.9 million tonnes of hot metal (down by 3 per cent), 3.55 million tonnes of liquid steel and 3.1 million tonnes of saleable steel. The plant would also produce 8.5 lakh tonnes of value-added steel. During the first nine months of the current financial year, it had sold 2.17 million tonnes of steel, worth Rs 5,200 crore.

Mr Rao said the company had faced raw material scarcity during the first quarter, and it was taking certain permanent measures to tackle the problem. "We are conducting talks with some companies abroad to have joint ventures to meet the coking coal shortage. We are also talking to the Orissa and Chhattisgarh Governments to acquire captive iron ore mines," he said.

The company had an ambitious expansion plan to increase capacity to 7 million tonnes by 2007-2008, a move that would require Rs 8,250 crore. RINL would borrow Rs 2,000 crore-Rs 2,500 crore from the market; the rest would be met from internal resources, he said.

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