OSCOM may not meet exports target

The export target of the Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM), an unit of the Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) under the Department of Atomic Energy, is unlikely to be met this year as very few foreign buyers are interested to purchase sand mineral products in the backdrop of global slowdown.

“Very few foreign buyers are now interested to purchase ilmenite, the main sand mineral product of the OSCOM”, said a senior officer of the company. The OSCOM is situated at Matikhala, near Chhatrapur, the district headquarter town of Orissa's Ganjam district. Ilmenite is mainly used in manufacture of Titanium Dioxide, which is used in paints, paper, rubber, textile etc.

It is also the raw material for the manufacture of titanium alloys, which is used in the aerospace and chemical industries by virtue of its light weight, toughness, heat and chemical resistance, It is also used for the production of synthetic rutile, another sand mineral.

The OSCOM aimed to export about 2.50 lakh metric tonnes of ilmenite during this year as against the last year's achievement of 2.20 lakh metric tonnes. So far, the company has exported about 70 lakh metric tonnes of the sand mineral to different countries. “We may not achieve the export target this year”, said MS Ray, the head of OSCOM.

The IRE products are directly linked with the production of steel and when the steel industries across the world are going through a rough patch and are forced to reduce their productions, it is bound to affect the demand for ilmenite, the OSCOM chief said. He, however, said, there is no plan to reduce production of ilmenite in the plant.

The production capacity of the OSCOM is 2.20,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of ilmenite, 10,000 TPA of rutile, 8,000 TPA of zircon, 4,000 TPA of Monazite, 10,000 TPA of Garnet and 30,000 TPA of Sillimanite. Apart from catering to the domestic needs, the public sector company exports the sand minerals to other countries. The OSCOM, according to Ray, only exports ilmenite while the other mineral products are consumed within the country.