Vedanta Group company Sesa Goa has announced the completion of a planned expansion at its pig iron plant in Goa.
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The company, on Tuesday, informed the stock exchange that it had successfully commissioned a third blast furnace . With this, the plant had become the largest producer of low phosphorous pig iron in India with an installed capacity of 0.625 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), up from 0.250 mtpa earlier.
The new blast furnace commenced hot metal production on August 17, the company said..
The company has also announced the doubling of its metallurgical coke capacity from 0.28 mtpa to 0.56 mtpa along with the 30 MW waste heat recovery power plant at the same unit. The company said the commissioning of its associated sinter plant of 0.8 mtpa was also progressing as per schedule.
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Market analysts said that these expansions were in line with Sesa Goa’s plans to utilise part of its iron ore production to make pig iron as illegal mining in Goa and Karnataka had made iron ore exports difficult.
Besides, hectic lobbying by Indian steel makers for domestic consumption of iron ore had caused restrictions on exports and the imposition of export duty had made Indian iron ore unattractive in the international market, especially in China. The expansions at the Sesa Goa’s plant would yield better margins for the company rather than only exports of iron ore.
Sesa Goa shares closed with a gain of 3.42 per cent at Rs.193.65 on the BSE.