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Bhilai remains SAIL's star performer

By N. N. Sachitanand

BANGALORE, APRIL 2. The Steel Authority of India's integrated steel plant at Bhilai has maintained an unbroken record of profitability since its inception. In 2001-02, when most of the world's steel producers were in the red, Bhilai declared a net profit of Rs. 477 crores.

In fiscal 2002-03, despite increases in input costs, plant sources indicate that Bhilai will be posting a record net profit, exceeding the performance target of Rs. 604 crores set in the beginning of the year. This has been achieved due to a combination of higher sales, improved techno-economics and firmer steel prices. During the year under review, Bhilai's salable steel production at 3.614 million tonnes was 6.8 per cent higher than in 2001-02. A cumulative dispatch of 3.599 million tonnes of salable steel was achieved during the year, surpassing the previous best of 3.563 million tonnes in 1996-97 with a growth of 5.7 per cent over last year.

The plant registered savings of Rs. 190 crores from cost control measures during the year as against Rs. 122.68 crores in 2001-02. On the techno-economic front, the plant reduced its coke rate to 496 kg/THM from 524 last year. The energy rate came down from 7.07 to 6.84 G cal/TCS. The labour productivity went up to a record 153 tonnes/man/year from 137 in the previous fiscal.

The management's strategy of making each mill as an individual profit centre and increasing the share of higher value items in the product mix has yielded excellent results. The Rail Mill has achieved an all-time high output of 6.90 lakh tonnes, a growth of 32.7 per cent over the previous year.

The Plate Mill, which had been languishing for the past few years, has staged a remarkable recovery in 2002-03 with a despatch of 7.56 lakh tonnes, reflecting a growth of 17.45 per cent over the 2001-02 figures.

Around three lakh tonnes of plates have been exported in 2002-03 — a 100 per cent growth over the previous year.

The component of special steel in the total salable steel production went up from 24.9 per cent in 2001-02 to 27.5 per cent. Similarly, the proportion of finished steel in total salable steel increased to 71.2 per cent from 67.2 per cent in 2001-02.

Bhilai has remained the highest exporter of the SAIL collective in 2002-03 by exporting 4.80 lakh tonnes of products worth Rs 530 crores. The total exports from the remaining plants and units of SAIL was at 3.70 lakh tonnes.

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