Steel pipe maker PSL Ltd on Thursday said it expects to bag projects worth over $120 million from India and the Middle East in the July-September quarter and aims to have an order book of about Rs 3,500 crore by March 2012.

“We are expecting to get significant order from Saudi Arabia, which will be about supplying 2,50,000 tonnes of line pipes. We have already submitted the bid but the order has not yet been placed,” PSL Managing Director Mr Ashok Punj told PTI.

He added that the tender is roughly in the range of $100 million to $120 million, but refused to disclose further details.

In May, the company commissioned its second pipe mill of 75,000 tonnes a year capacity at Sharjah, taking the total pipe production capacity to 1,50,000 tonnes per year in the Middle-East through its subsidiary PSL FZE, Hamriyah.

“Both the units are currently producing pipes for the order, which we won in March from Saudi Arabia”, he said, adding that the company currently has an unexecuted order book of roughly about Rs 2,500 crore. “The aim is to take it to Rs 3,500 crore by the year-end,” Mr Punj said.

Besides this, PSL has also bid for supplying line pipes for two pipelines - Indian Oil’s Salaya-Mathura pipeline expansion project and Mehasana-Srinagar pipeline via Bhatinda of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), he said.

“We are looking to get substantial orders from Indian Oil and GSPC because of our locational advantage as our mills are in the vicinity of pipelines (to be constructed). We are expecting them to be awarded in some time next quarter,” he added.

PSL has a pipe mill in Jaipur, with a production capacity of about 2,00,000 tonnes and pipes to projects of Indian Oil and GSPC will be supplied from this facility, if PSL wins the bids, Mr Punj further said.

“Cost plays a major role in our industry as carrying heavy pipes to the projects on time is an expensive affair, if your mill is not in the vicinity... So, there we have the advantage as we have a mill in Jaipur,” he said.

Talking about the outlook of the industry, the ISL Chairman said that demand has picked up in domestic oil and gas industry and there is more commitment to complete the national gas grid.

“So we are banking on getting more orders in the days to come (for supply of pipes) and looking at having better days ahead,” he said.

The shares of the company were trading at Rs 74.10 apiece at 1410 hrs on the Bombay Stock Exchange, down 0.74 per cent from the previous close.

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