Iron Ore Stocks Down To 4-5 Days
Indian public sector steel company, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL), says it is facing a production crisis due to a shortage of iron ore fines.
The company says that it has around 4-5 days stock if iron ore fines and that this is likely to impact production at its steel plant at Kalinga Nagar in the Indian state of Orissa.
NINL has not received any stock from the Orissa Mining Corporation since 15 March due to a shortage of railway rakes. However, managing director, P C Sahu, says that the railways are insisting that the district collector has to certify that the iron ore carried by the rake has been legally mined. This is after a spate of scandals in the area involving iron ore that has been mined without a permit.
“We have taken up the issue with the Keonjhar district collector who in turn has informed us that the process is not practicable," said Mr Sahu. "Our requirement for iron ore fines is around one lakh tonnes per month and we get 3,500 tonnes per day from the Daitari mines. But since March 15, these supplies have come to a grinding halt, thereby affecting our stock adversely", he added. The company also uses 1000 tonnes per day of iron ore lumps; however these are transported by road.
In addition the state government in Orissa have imposed prohibition orders since 5 March in respect of three railways sidings: at Banspani, Joda (East) and Jaruli, in order to verify records of mineral transportation, again in the wake of illegal mining. No raw materials have been supplied from these sidings to NINL since that date. NINL usually receives around 50,000 tonnes per month from these sidings.
Mr Sahu said that NINL is in talks with the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) to help meet its raw material needs by transporting iron ore from Visakhapatnam; however Mr Sahu pointed out that it would take seven days for the iron ore fines to be transported to the plant at Kalinga Nagar.
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