India's state-owned steel company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) plans to sell assets worth 30-40 billion rupees ($361-481 million) to reduce debt and replenish working capital, according to managing director Atul Bhatt. RINL, which produces commercial billet and long steel products, posted a loss of over $360 million in fiscal 2022/2023 due to oversupply of steel in the domestic and global markets, higher taxes and the lack of its own raw material base.
According to Bhatt, RINL's purchase of iron ore costs about 6,000 rupees ($72) more per ton. The company has therefore started sourcing coking coal from Russia instead of Australia, which has reduced its costs.
RINL's debt currently stands at 230 billion rupees ($2.77 billion). Although the company has an annual production capacity of 7.3 million tons, it was only able to produce 5.5 million tons in 2021/2022, and last year was no better.
The Indian government had decided to privatize RINL in January 2021, but the decision was met with massive protests. In April 2023, India's Ministry of Steel Industries said it had not given up on the project, but believed the company needed to become more financially attractive.
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