SAIL posts 8% increase in production during Q1

New Delhi, Jul 7 (UNI) Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) today registered a growth of 8 per cent in its production of saleable steel at 3.1 million tonnes (MT) during April-June 2006, over the corresponding period last year.

The average capacity utilisation for saleable steel production in the company's five integrated steel plants also surged to a level of 112 per cent during the first three months of the current fiscal against 103 per cent during the corresponding period a year ago.

SAIL's techno-economic parameters continued to improve with the energy consumption level coming down by 1 per cent at 7.22 giga calories per tonne of crude steel and coke rate, reducing by 1 kg to the level of 542 kgs per tonne of hot metal.

The company's sales grew by half a million tonnes during April-June 2006. Its exports at around 1.2 lakh tonnes during the period were however, same as that of the corresponding period previous year.

The production of saleable steel at Alloy Steels Plant, Durgapur grew by 12 per cent during the period.

Salem Steel Plant reported production of 41,500 tonnes during the first three months against 23,000 tonnes in the same period of last year. Hot metal production at Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL) recorded a growth of 10 per cent during the period.

UNI CS PV HT1417