National convention on cost management from today

The Ukkunagaram Chapter of Cost Accountants (UCCA) is organising a national convention on 'Achieving excellence in cost management in steel industry' in association with Visakhapatnam Steel Plant on Dec 16-17, 2005.

The convention will be inaugurated by Y Siva Sagar Rao, chairman and managing director, VSP on Friday.

The convention, first of its kind, is being organised at national level to focus exclusively on cost management techniques in steel industry.

"The event acquires importance in view of the buoyancy in the steel industry and large-scale expansion being planned by major players such as VSP," K S Shankar, chief patron, UCCA and general manager (Finance),VSP, said in a press release.

"The industry experts will discuss various costing techniques and the cost reduction practices being adopted in their plants. Eminent costing professionals will deliver technical lectures on the modern costing techniques and its importance and relevance to the steel industry," he added.

"The increase in cost of inputs like raw materials, energy, etc, will have impact on the operating margins of the steel plants as steel prices are market-driven and are not rising in proportion to the cost of inputs," Rao said.