State-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), which is eyeing a 25 per cent growth in saleable steel volume, is also expecting to return to profit in the current financial year with expanded and modernised steel producing capacity, an official said on Wednesday.
The steel maker, which clocked 65 per cent growth in exports during 2017-18, would focus more on the overseas markets in the current fiscal.
"We have made a net profit during March and hope to continue with that momentum this year. In 2017-18, the company clocked a positive ebitda over Rs 200 crore. We are expecting to return to profit in 2018-19," RINL Chairman and Managing Director P. Madhusudan told reporters here.
According to him, scaling up of volumes in operations, improvement of value added steel products and cost reduction efforts would be key factors to become a profit making steel producer.
The company is set to get benefits from its 6.3 million tonnes per annum capacity expansion along with strong markets, particularly in the southern India, he said.
The steel maker, which has been bringing down its net losses, incurred a net loss of about Rs 1,400 crore in 2015-16 and subsequently, a net loss of Rs 1,200 in 2016-17.
However, the net loss would be to the tune of about Rs 850 crore in 2017-18, he said.
According to provisional data, the state-owned steel firm clocked over Rs 16,500 crore of sales turnover during 2017-18 with a 31 per cent growth in saleable steel touching 4.5 million tonnes mark.
"We are targeting a 25 per cent growth in saleable steel production during 2018-19 to 5.7 million tonnes," he said.
The company had spent Rs 12,300 crore for expansions of 6.3 million tonnes per annum capacity and Rs 4000 crore for modernising its plants, Madhusudan said.
RINL's forged wheel manufacturing plant at Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh is expected to be commissioned by January 2019. The company has invested close to Rs 1,600 crore on the plant, which will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 100,000 units of wheel.
"Work on the plant is progressing and we hope to commission by January 2019. We have an assured off-take of nearly 80 per cent from the Indian Railways and for the remaining 20 per cent, we are talking to the metro railways," he said.
Madhusudan said the state-owned company was also in the process of finalising a joint venture agreement with AP Mineral Development Corporation for raw material linkages.
The steel maker, which usually exports 10-12 per cent of its total production, was exporting wire rods to the US markets and also shipped out steel products to south-east Asian countries.
"Our exports grew by 65 per cent in 2017-18 and clocked an export revenue of about Rs 1,700 crore. We are expecting at least a 10 per cent growth in export revenue in 2018-19," he said.
--IANS
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