Continuing to operate well above the rated capacity in all major areas of production, Bhilai Steel Plant, the flagship unit of the public sector SAIl, is set to conclude the financial year 2016-17 with an annual production of 5.04 Million Tonnes of Hot Metal, 4.74 Million Tonnes of Crude Steel and 4.00 Million Tonnes of Saleable Steel.
The Plant would be achieving a capacity utilisation of 107.4 percent in Hot Metal, 120.9 percent in Crude Steel and 127.1 percent in Saleable Steel, respectively.
The four finishing mills of SAIl’s Bhilai Steel Plant- the Plate Mill, Rail and Structure Mill, Merchant Mill and Wire Rod Mill- have registered record-breaking and encouraging performances in production of special quality value added steel grades in financial year 2016-17.
The Plant would be recording best ever loading of around 1,49,700 MT of 130 metre and 260 metre long rails, surpassing previous best of 1,41,670 Tonnes recorded in corresponding period of 2014-15. It is worth mentioning that the Rail and Structure Mill have surpassed its ABP target of 8 lakh tonnes for the year by producing 8,11,939 tonnes of Rails till 30th March 2017.
The Plant’s Plate Mill is set to record best ever production of 1,01,500 T of BQ Plates, surpassing previous best of around
91,392 T recorded in corresponding period of 2011-12. The Mill is also set to record production of 2,14,000 tonnes of HT Plates for home sales, surpassing previous best of 2,04,301 tonnes recorded in corresponding period of 15-16.
Plate Mill would also be recording best ever finished production of around 1,98,613 tonnes of Plates in 12 mm thickness against previous best of 1,80,807 tonnes in 2015-16. Despatch of around 1,90,267 tonnes of Plates in 12 mm thickness is also going to be the best as against previous best of 1,80,728 tonnes in 2015-16.
The two other finishing Mills of the Plant – the Wire Rod Mill and Merchant Mill would also be registering growth in production of special quality value added steel grades in the current financial year.
The Plant has also exported almost double the volume of steel in April to February period of current fiscal year 2016-17 as compared to corresponding period of last fiscal year. The Plant registered total export loading of 79,833 tonnes of steel in the April to February period of current fiscal year. This included 52,645 tonnes of plates, 3,800 tonnes of billets and 2,700 tonnes of wire rods. In the April to Feb period of 2015-16, the Plant had exported 40,433 tonnes of steel including 22170 of plates.