Steel major SAIL sees 10% rise in November sales

SAIL chairman CS Verma

INDIA'S largest steel producer Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) said its sales grew by 10 percent in the month of November to 9.7 lakh tonne thanks to positive results from renewed marketing efforts. "Backed by a renewed thrust on marketing, SAIL achieved total sales of 9.7 lakh tonne in November 2013, registering a 10 percent growth over same month last year," the Maharatna company said in a statement. While domestic sales were at 9.1 lakh tonne, exports...
zoomed three-fold to 61,000 tonne in November, compared to the similar period last year. "The company accelerated its export sales, with shipments to the tune of 61,000 tonne during November 2013 representing a three-fold growth over the same month last year." it said. The steel producer’s cumulative exports during the April-November period grew by 72 percent at 3.2 lakh tonne.
SAIL, which is expanding its capacity with a Rs 72,000-crore-investment, said a rebuilt coke oven battery at Durgapur steel plant has recently been commissioned.
"Rebuilt at a cost of Rs 213 crore, this battery will augment the capacity of saleable steel from the present level of 1.60 million tonne to 2.12 MT," SAIL said. The battery will play a vital role in the MEP of DSP, aimed to augment the capacity of saleable steel from the present level of 1.60 MT to 2.12 MT, the statement said.
With a turnover of Rs 49,350 crore, SAIL is India's largest steel maker and it has five integrated steel plants, three special plants, and one subsidiary in different parts of the country.
Meanwhile, in an interview to CNBC-TV18, CS Verma, chairman, SAIL said that the worst is over for the steel industry as the steel companies in India and globally have increased prices by Rs 1,500-2,000/tonne and US$ 15-20/tonne respectively. He added that one should expect better realisations in coming days.
He also said that in 2012, global crude steel output went up by 0.7 percent, but in the first 10 months (January to October) of the current calendar year, the growth steel production globally is 3.2 percent. Verma who is also officiating as the head of state-owned miner NMDC , said that company has increased prices of both fines and lumps by Rs 200/tn for December and is confident of achieving 30mt in FY14.