RINL chief calls for reducing cost of operation

There is a need to improve the operation process in steel companies in order to reduce cost of production, AP Choudhary, Chairman and Managing Director of
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) said in an event.

He said the cost of production could be largely reduced through improvement in techno-economic parameters, such as specific energy consumption, raw material consumption, productivity and yields.

Further, he said adopting best practices in waste recycling, waste-heat recovery and other relevant areas would largely contribute to reducing the cost of production.

He was addressing the “Steel Industry 2013” summit, organised by the FICCI in Mumbai. He said there is a need to reduce cost of production not only for sustainable growth but also for generation of adequate margins to fund the investments for future capacity additions in the country.

He also highlighted the challenge of sourcing raw material. Cost is the main driver for competitiveness and more than 60 per cent of the steel production cost is on account of raw materials.

The plants which were set up 5-6 decades ago were able to secure raw material deposits in the form of mining leases.

But he expressed concern that the new generation plants have to source the raw material at very high prices from the market as they don’t have captive mines.