Steel production falls short of target

2005-05-19

Although the steel sector is doing well financialy, the production of finished steel in the country fell short of the target set by the government. According to the union government’s latest capsule report on infrastructure performance, the overall finished steel production during April-February 2004-05 was 36.08 million tonnes which was 10.2% less than the target of 40.19 million tonne. The production, however, was 3.2% more than the actual production during the corresponding period in the previous financial year. The growth rate during the corresponding period in the previous financial year was 11.6%. The shortfall from the target was mainly due to lower performance of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) plants and secondary producers. The output of finished steel by SAIL plants at 8.47 million tonnes during April-February 2004-05 was short of target by 2.1%. The shortfall in production target was due to lower output in in Durgapur Steel Plant, Rourkela Steel Plant and IISCO. On the other hand, the report said that production of Tata Steel was higher than the target by 6.5%. The output of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) was higher than the target and the production for the same period of the last year by 1.6% and 2.4% respectively. The secondary steel producers lagged behind their target by 16.1%. However, they recorded a growth of 4.1% over the production during the corresponding period in the previous financial year. The overall capacity utilisation during April-February 2004-05 improved to 86% from 85% recorded during the corresponding period last year.