Essar Steel expects to restart pellet production at its cyclone-hit Visakhapatnam unit in two-three days, even as work is under way to restore the plant.

The company has an eight-million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) pellet plant in Visakhapatnam and another of six-mtpa at Paradip (Odisha), which were not affected in the recent cyclone. The iron ore required for the pellet plant is pumped through a slurry pipeline from the eight-mtpa beneficiation plants at Bailadilla (Chhattisgarh) and 12-mtpa plant at Dabuna (Odisha), which have rich iron ore deposits.

The recent cyclone at Visakhapatnam has caused damage to some of the utilities and peripheral facilities. However, there is minimal damage to the main plant, said Essar Steel in a release on Thursday.

“The pellet plant’s sturdy design and the adequate precautions taken at the plant site before the cyclone hit the plant saved it from any major destruction. While the efforts are on to restore the plant site, the main plant will be restarted by the week end,” the statement added.

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