RINL sales turnover up 4 per cent

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the flagship company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, registered a 4 per cent increase in sales turnover at Rs 7,033 crore during the April-December 2008 period, as against Rs 6,766 crore in the corresponding period last year.

However, in the third quarter of the current fiscal, it incurred a net loss of Rs 213 crore due to global meltdown that resulted in lower realisation and higher input costs. The trend is likely to continue in the fourth quarter as well.

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 1,211 crore in the first half year, an RINL release said. During the nine-month period, VSP sold about 1.15 million tonne of value-added steel while production of saleable steel for the period stood at 2.181 million tonne.