Speaking at the company’s 43rd Annual General Meeting, Shri Rakesh Singh, chairman of India-based Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), said that for the financial year 2015-16, capital expenditure of INR 75 billion ($1.13 billion) is planned.
The SAIL chairman stated that the installation works on the state-of-the-art 3 million mt per year hot strip mill at Rourkela Steel Plant has started. This mill will enable production of high quality hot rolled coils (HRC) including high strength API grades (up to API X 100), auto body grades and other special value-added steels.
Touching upon the steel industry’s global scenario, he said that the world’s finished steel consumption rose marginally in 2014 to 1.54 billion mt, recording 0.6 percent growth over 2013. In 2014, China registered a negative steel demand for the first time since 1995 and its exports recorded an increase of 51 percent over 2013. The Indian steel industry was largely affected by these developments, the SAIL chairman commented.