RINL's sales declines 17% during Apr-Dec

SAIL's falls 2.7%, despite a 3.9% rise in steel consumption

Sales of state-run steel makers SAIL and RINL dipped by 2.71% and 17%, respectively, in the April-December period of the current fiscal despite a 3.9% rise in India's steel consumption during the period.

Steel Authority of India's (SAIL) sales decreased by 2.71% during the period to 76.03 lakh tonnes against 78.15 lakh tonnes a year ago, a data complied by the Steel Ministry has revealed.

Vizag-based Rashtriya Ispat Nigam's (RINL) sales declined by over 17% to 17.86 lakh tonnes compared to 21.63 lakh tonnes reported in the April-December period of the last fiscal.

Meanwhile, during the period, India's steel consumption grew by 3.9% to 548 lakh tonnes, which might be dubbed as "subdued"  in comparison with the entire last fiscal's consumption growth of seven%.

During December also, sales of both the firms declined as well. While SAIL's sales decreased by 4.47% to 9.41 lakh tonnes, RINL's sales came down to 2.51 lakh tonnes from 3.43 lakh tonnes in December, 2011.

The sales realisation of both SAIL and RINL also fell during the month by 8.39% (Rs 4,108 crore against Rs 4,484 crore) and by 24.89% (Rs 1,147 crore against Rs 1,527 crore), respectively.

State-owned iron ore miner NMDC's sales, however, were in the positive zone with 8.5% growth in December, 2012 at 22.34 lakh tonnes against 20.59 lakh tonnes a year ago.

But, April-December figures showed company's sales down by 13.47% to 180.38 lakh tonnes from 208.45 lakh tonnes in the April-December period of the last fiscal.