OREANDA-NEWS. India's state-controlled Steel Authority of India (Sail) plans to increase crude steel output by 8.4pc from a year earlier for the 2018-19 year that started 1 April.

The country's largest steel producer forecast production of 17.8mn t of crude steel in 2018-19 compared with an estimated output of 16.42mn t in 2017-18. Actual production during April-December 2017 was 11.1mn t. Capacity utilisation during April-December was 87pc.

Sail has completed the expansion of its production capacity to 21mn t/yr from 13mn t/yr earlier in a decade-long capacity ramp-up at its five major integrated steel plants.

The company expects to complete the rebuilding of its coke oven battery No.8 at the Bhilai Steel Plant in central India by June next year. Sail is also awaiting pending environmental clearance for starting expansion of of its Gua iron ore mine in east India from the current 4mn dry metric tonne (dmt)/yr to 10mn dmt/yr.

Fellow state-controlled steel producer Vizag Steel plans to expand crude steel production by 23pc in 2018-19 to 5.98mn t from an estimated output of 4.73mn t in 2017-18. Vizag operates a 6.3mn t/yr steel plant in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in east India's Andhra Pradesh state. The company is currently upgrading its coke oven battery No.5 and two iron ore sintering units.