The Hindu Business Line : Rourkela Steel hot metal output to touch 4.5 mt

Products
CNRO products making capacity may go up from 75,000 tpa to 2.25 lakh tpa.
Focus shift to make better quality CR products and high-quality plates of 4.5 m width.

Ambar Singh Roy

Kolkata, Nov. 7 Hot metal production capacity at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) is slated to go up from around two million tonnes per annum (mtpa) at present to 4.5 mtpa by 2010. By that time, RSP will account for 18-20 per cent of Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) aggregate steel making capacity. Currently, RSP accounts for 13 per cent of SAIL’s production volumes.

RSP sources said that a Rs 10,000-crore capacity expansion plan had been cleared and was currently under implementation. By 2010, the plant’s hot metal, crude steel and saleable steel production capacity would stand at 4.5 mtpa, 4.2 mtpa and 4 mtpa, respectively. The cost of expansion would be met through internal accruals and debt in the likely ratio of 1:1.

The sources said the focus would be on a product mix that would facilitate higher profit margins. Such products would include CNRO or silicon mill products, plates and ERW and SW pipes. With focus on production of high margin products, RSP was hopeful of contributing to 20-25 per cent of SAIL’s profits by 2010. Currently, RSP contributes to 13 per cent of SAIL’s overall profits, the sources said.

According to them, RSP’s CNRO products manufacturing capacity would go up from 75,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) at present to 2.25 lakh tpa. RSP is the only steel plant in the country to manufacture CNRO products. These products are used in electrical items, transformers, etc.

Production focus at the plant would also shift to the manufacture of better quality CR products and high-quality plates. The plant would be equipped to manufacture plates of 4.5 m width. Plates manufactured by RSP find application in the infrastructure and construction sectors.

With regard to raw material linkages that needed to be put in place keeping in view the plant’s capacity expansion, the sources said RSP was “looking for support from Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh”.

RSP has targeted a turnover in excess of Rs 7,000 crore in 2007-08, up from Rs 6,400 crore recorded in 2006-07. The net profit in the current fiscal is expected to “surpass” the figure of Rs 1,336 crore achieved in 2006-07, according to the sources.

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