Neelachal Ispat to produce billets, TMT bars to shore up bottomline

Steel PSU also plans to start Steel Melting Shop in two months; eyes turnaround in current fiscal

Steel PSU Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), promoted jointly by MMTC Ltd and two Odisha government controlled companies, aims to produce billets and value-added products like TMT bars and wire rods in 2018-19. The products will be manufactured through a conversion process at its Duburi plant in Odisha’s Kalinganagar industrial complex.

Production of billets and value-added products is expected to shore up NINL’s bottomline which is eyeing a turnaround in this fiscal.

The public sector steel maker also has plans to start its Steel Melting Shop (SMS) in a span of two months. It aims to convert sizeable amounts of billets to TMT bars and wire rods. NINL, the largest pig iron producer, is aspiring to be one of the largest producers of micro-alloyed billets in the eastern region. The company will lend its brand name to TMT bars and wire rods.

Lately, NINL successfully completed its capital repair work on the 1.1 million tonne capacity blast furnace. The NINL steel unit had temporarily gone off operations in November last year and resumed in April this year. After the capital repair work, NINL has targeted to operate its blast furnace at full capacity and produce 3,500 tonnes of hot metal per day. In May 2018, NINL produced 69,455 tonnes of hot metal, its second-highest
 monthly output since inception. 

NINL owns captive iron ore mines in the Koira sector whose operations are expected to start from the third quarter of this fiscal. Operating the captive mines will help NINL save Rs 2.5 billion each year. 

Apart from MMTC (that has a controlling stake of 49.9 per cent), two state government entities- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) own stakes in NINL. Central PSUs like National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), BHEL Ltd and Mecon have minor equity participation.