Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Dec 20, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Dec 20, 2002 |
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Corporate
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Outlook SAIL import bill to touch Rs 2,850 cr Indrani Dutta
KOLKATA, Dec. 19 THE total import bill of the public sector steel major the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is set to increase to Rs 2,850 crore in the current fiscal. Sources told Business Line that in 2001-02, SAIL's expenditure on this account was Rs 2,400 crore out of which the cost of imported raw material was Rs 1,775 crore. The remaining amount pertained to the cost of capital goods, stores and spares. The main reason behind the over 16 per cent increase in outgo on raw material imports is due to increased imports of coking coal, sources said. While SAIL imported 6.3 million tonnes (mt) of coking coal in 2001-02, this figure is projected to increase to around 7.5 mt in 2002-03. Lower supply of coking coal by Coal India Ltd (CIL) is the reason behind the projected increase, sources said, adding that Rs 2,550 crore has been budgeted by SAIL for this year on this account. Of the total value of raw materials consumed annually by the SAIL plants 42 per cent was imported and the remaining indigenous, sources said. Riding on the market uptrend, SAIL is now gearing up to end the current fiscal with a production of 10 mt against 9.5 mt of 2001-02. SAIL for integrated plants have already produced over 6.6 mt of saleable steel. Sources said that for SAIL which has been targeting a turnaround, the increased burden on account of coking coal is expected to be offset by increased production, productivity and improved techno-economic parameters. Between April and November SAIL plants achieved a five per cent reduction in coke rate and a two per cent reduction in energy consumption. Blast furnace productivity had improved by one per cent. Referring to SAIL's imports of raw materials, sources said that besides coking coal SAIL imports nickel, molybdenum, manganese metal, ferro alloys and coke for special steel production.
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