India: Monnet Ispat Commences Trial Production from its 2 MnT Pellet Plant

Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited, once a stressed asset, seems to be finally returning on the recovery path. Although the company reported losses in the July-September quarter, the steel manufacturer has resumed trial production from its 2 MnT pellet plant which was commissioned sometime in 2015-2016, but was not able to operate at optimum capacity.

Company is likely to commence commercial operations soon and market expects pellets in merchant market will be available after Diwali and will cater to the needs of the DRI manufacturer.

Taken over by the AION-JSW consortium after insolvency resolutions, Monnet Ispat's total income, however, increased to Rs 423.03 crore in the July-September quarter of the 2018-19 fiscal as compared to ?318.39 crore in corresponding period of the previous year.

Monnet Ispat, once one of the country's foremost steelmakers, ran a successful steel plant with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes in Chhattisgrah. It ran into problems when coal mines attached to the plant were cancelled in 2014 after a Supreme Court order. Crashing steel prices on account of Chinese dumping further aggravated its crisis and resulted into bankruptcy proceedings.

JSW Steels' Turnaround plans for Monnet Ispat & Power

In recently conducted quarterly conference call results, JSW Steel announced turnaround plan for recently acquired Monnet Ispat & Energy Limited in three phases in which currently only DRI unit is operational. In 1st phase JSW is planning to commission pellet, sinter, blast furnace, caster under TMT bar in Q3 FY19. In 2nd phase, company is planning to bring capacity utilization in line with laid crude steel capacity of 1.5 MnT and in phase-III company may look forward on increasing capacity.