Steel Authority of India Ltd’s Bokaro Steel Plant in Jharkhand, which reported a loss of ₹152 crore in the first half of the last fiscal year, is estimated to have recovered the loss completely in the second half.

Though the plant’s accounts are yet to be finalised, indications are that it has made a profit (before tax) of around ₹200 crore in the second half, said sources. It had already recorded a profit of ₹94 crore in the December quarter.

Over the last few years, BSL’s profit has been declining — from ₹2,085 core in 2009-10 to ₹308 crore in 2012-13. The falling performance of several units of the steel plant, which dates back to the 1970s, was behind the fall in profitability.

Plant overhaul SAIL initiated a major overhaul of the plant, including value addition and capacity expansion, in 2012-13.

“Some of the positive results of the overhaul were visible in the second half, and more will come through in the next few quarters,” BSL MD Anutosh Maitra told Business Line .

Among the renovations were the repair of coke oven battery No 4 and 5 for higher coke availability and lower outsourcing. Capital repairs of all the sinter machines also boosted productivity and stemmed outflow on outsourcing of sinter and pellets.

Repairs of the stove of blast furnace-4 improved productivity and cut costs, while removal of bottlenecks in hot-strip and the cold rolling mills (CRM) also brought in results.

Commercial production from the new, 1.2-million-tonne CRM-3 unit is likely to begin in June. The ₹6,300-crore package, which also includes de-bottlenecking at steel melting shop-2 and blast furnance-2, will help BSL recapture certain value-added market segments and increase profitability.

Currently, coke oven battery-6 is being repaired. This is expected to make BSL self-reliant in coke and augment output of coke oven gas for other processes.

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