JSW Steel has begun production from the last of the three mines it had acquired in 2019 in Karnataka, a crucial addition to its iron ore reserves at a time when the raw material availability has hit production across the country's steel industry.
The country's leading steelmaker said the third mine started producing iron ore on December 10. "With this, all nine mines of Karnataka are operational. Mining operations at the four mining blocks at Odisha ramped up production and dispatches," the company said on January 22, when it also announced its third quarter results.
The new addition now takes care of 49 percent of the company's iron ore requirement, a marked improvement from 27 percent in October 2020.
Shortage of iron ore is seen as one reason behind the increase in steel prices. It has also impacted JSW Steel's production guidance for the year. "We are on course to meet the annual guidance of 15 million tonnes of saleable steel sales, however, it is expected that crude steel production guidance achievement will be around 95 percent mainly due to constraints on iron ore availability in the country," the company said.
The rise in steel prices had led to many of the user industries, including those in real estate, to call upon the government to look into the matter.
Projects update
JSW Steel also gave update on three of its ongoing projects. These will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of the financial year.
Dolvi: The expansion project to double the Dolvi facility to 10 million tonnes per annum is nearing completion, with majority of operations to be commissioned in the current quarter. Full integrated operations and stabilization, the company said, will take place in the first quarter of FY22.
"The project has been affected by travel and visa restrictions for technicians from global capital equipment vendors, and the company has been trying to overcome this with a combination of physical and digital assistance fromvendors, suppliers of equipment and technology," JSW Steel said.
Vijaynagar: One of the two Continuous Galvanising Lines(CGL) has been commissioned, and the second will be commissioned by the first quarter of FY22. The 8 MTPA pellet plant is under commissioning, the company said.
Vasind and Tarapur: All expansions (except 0.45 MTPA CGL at Vasind) are under commissioning, and will be fully commissioned by March 2021.