Indian government-run steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) has kept one of its three blast furnaces idle since January this year, owing to the high price of coking coal and the subsequent slowdown in the domestic finished steel market, sources said on Wednesday, June 22.
The sources said that, of RINL’s three blast furnaces at its mill located in the southern port town of Vishakhapatnam, the idle blast furnace has a capacity of 2.5 million mt per year. The other two blast furnaces currently operational have capacities of 2.5 million mt per year each.
According to the sources, despite one blast furnace not being operational during January-March 2022, RINL achieved its highest-ever crude steel production during the fiscal year 2021-22.
The Indian government has already initiated the process for the privatization of RINL through 100 percent disinvestment of government-held equity to a private investor.