Public sector Kerala Minerals and Metals, manufacturer of titanium dioxide pigment, has registered a net profit of ₹20.23 crore during the first quarter of 2015-16.

This is 94.51 per cent higher than that during the same period last year, according to Managing Director Michael Vedasiromani.

This also marked a break with the previous financial year when the company had met with production losses due to a combination of adverse factors, he added.

Production of titanium dioxide was at 8,743 tonnes during the quarter, which was an improvement over 8,013 tonnes of Q1 of last year that returned a net profit of ₹10.4 crore. This has translated into a production efficiency of 87.43 per cent over that 66 per cent the last ear, Vedasiromani said.

The improved performance was attributed to achievement of major gains in downtime at the pigment unit after comprehensive maintenance work was taken up.

Less input costs There has been a marked improvement in the production of beneficiated ilmenite and titanium tetrachloride as well.

Reduction in input costs due to swing-back in petroleum products cut down cost of production from ₹1.55 lakh per MT to ₹1.40 lakh per MT. A conscious drive to rationalise raw material consumption also helped.

The mineral separation unit managed to run to full capacity. Production of zircon went up by 25 per cent while that of rutile looked up by 17 per cent year-on-year.

The company was also able to register record sales of titanium sponge, and an order for 210 MT from the Navy for the advanced technical vessel programme provided the icing in the cake.

The company has received the first instalment of ₹10.7 crore out of the deal that is worth ₹33.91 crore, Vedasiromani said.

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