Nilachal Ispat invests in coke plant to cut costs

Nilachal Ispat Nigam (NINL), a subsidiary of MMTC, is aiming at a cost reduction of Rs 2500 per tonne of pig iron production after commissioning of its new coke oven battery and sinter plant.

The heating of the coke oven battery has started and production was likely from March 2004. It has been set up under Konark Met Coke Ltd (KMCL) and is adjacent to NINL's steel-making unit at Duburi.

The sinter plant to convert fine ore into granules will become operational shortly as well.

Coke prices have gone up from $80 per tonne to $210/t between March 2002 and now. The Rs 693 crore coke plant has annual capacity of 80 lakh tonnes of blast furnace coke.

KMCL will sell surplus coke to Vizag Steel Plant, which has invested Rs 40 crore in the equity of the company.

Savings per tonne of pig iron from coke will be Rs 2000 per tonne, while the Rs 225 crore, 1.7 million tonne sinter plant will reduce use of calibrated ore and save Rs 500 per tonne.

"Our aim is to make NINL one of the lowest cost producer of pig iron and steel in the country", says S D Kapoor, CMD of MMTC and chairman of NINL and KMCL.

NINL produced 4.7 lakh tonne of pig iron in 2002-03, and exported 2.38 lakh tonne valued at Rs 159 crore. In the first half of this fiscal, NINL exported 90,000 tonnes of pig iron worth Rs 70.28 crore. Pig iron prices have risen from $120 per tonne in March 2002 to $220 now.

NINL also sold over one lakh tonnes of granulated slag to cement manufacturers in 2002-03 and was looking at export of slag.