Less than a year after taking over the stressed Essar Steel asset, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India has attained record production in the financial year ended March 2020.

The company has managed to achieve this despite challenging economic conditions, including the fallout of the Covid pandemic, in the March quarter.

Crude steel production was up 5 per cent last fiscal at 7.23 million tonnes (mt) against 6.92 mt logged in the previous year.

During the year, the company’s blast furnace set a new benchmark in productivity through in-house innovation, which enabled it to operate consistently over its rated capacity.

Pellet production increased 9 per cent to 11.63 mt (10.63 mt).

Lockdown impact

As with many other countries, India’s efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus led to a nationwide lockdown from March 25. Though the government designated steel production as an essential service, constraints on the movement of people, logistics and downstream industries forced a significant cut in production to prevent build-up of surplus inventory. The company was impacted by weakening demand from large steel-consuming sectors such as automotive and construction.

Dilip Oommen, CEO, AM/NS India, said despite price and demand volatility, the company made strides to improve overall performance and operational efficiency.

The record production would have been even better if not for the Covid impact on domestic and global steel demand towards the end of March, he added.

“We have undertaken steps to achieve stability in operations and drawn detailed planning to ramp up operations when the situation improves, while meeting customer needs,” he added.

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