Financial Turmoil Worries Metal Sector Various Companies - Nov 10, 2008

With global financial crisis upsetting several industrial sectors all over the world, profit making steel units in public as well as private sectors likely to be kicked badly. Various companies in the domestic market have initiated steps to deal with the situation. In this regard, country's major steel producer Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), has started taking several measures as the demand for steel has been considerably reduced in the world market.

On the other hand, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), a giant unit and the first steel plant in the country has been obliged to reduce its normal production. Its sale position of saleable steel has started declining from October, 2008, thus piling up its stock position.

RSP had sold about 9 lakh tones of salebale steel (average 1 lakh forty thousand tones per month) during first half of the current fiscal year as against its annual target of about 17 lakh tones and gained net profit of Rs 800 crore till the ende of September 2008.

But due to slashing demand of steel in the global market, RSP could manage to sell only about 90 thousand tones of saleable steel during October 2008. Addition to this, for November 2008, the order received by the plant was only 40,000 tones against its average of 140,000 tones.