ISPAT - Lakshmi Mittal's creation

Ispat Industries Ltd operates in the iron and steel business.


Ispat Industries Limited (IIL) is one of the leading integrated steel makers and the largest private sector producer of hot rolled coils in India. Set up as Nippon Denro Ispat Limited in May 1984 by founding chairman Mr M L Mittal, IIL has steadily grown into a Rs 9,400-crore company, assuming its position as flagship of the reputed Ispat Group. A corporate powerhouse with operations in iron, steel, mining, energy and infrastructure, the Group today figures among the top 20 business houses in the country.

Headquartered at Mumbai, IIL employs a total of 3000 people and is the leader in the national speciality steel market. The company's core competency is the production of high quality steel, for which it employs cutting edge technologies and stringent quality standards. It produces world-class sponge iron, galvanized sheets and cold rolled coils, in addition to hot rolled coils, through its two state-of-the art integrated steel plants, located at Dolvi and Kalmeshwar in the state of Maharashtra.

The sprawling 1,200 acres Dolvi complex houses the 3 million tonne per annum hot rolled coils plant, that combines the latest technologies - the Conarc process for steel making and the compact strip process (CSP) - introduced for the first time in Asia.

The complex also has a 1.6 million tonne per annum sponge iron (DRI) plant, which was commissioned in 1994 as the world's largest and most efficient gas-based single mega module plant. Moreover, the Dolvi complex is home to a 2 million tonne blast furnace and also boasts a mechanised multi-functional jetty situated nearby, that facilitates the automation of raw material handling. A new 2.24 million tonnes per annum sinter plant, a 1260 tonnes per day oxygen and a new electric arc furnace have also been commissioned at IIL Dolvi.

Ispat is the only steel maker in India and among a few in the world to have total flexibility in choice of steel making route, be it the conventional blast furnace route or the electric arc furnace route. Its dual technology allows Ispat the freedom to choose its raw material feed, be it pig iron, sponge iron, iron ore, scrap or any combination of various feeds. It also has total flexibility in choosing its energy source, be it electricity, coal or gas.

The Kalmeshwar complex houses Ispat's 0.4 million tonnes cold rolling complex, which also includes the galvanized plain/ galvanized corrugated (GP/GC) lines and India's first colour coating mill.

Technology and innovation have always been the cornerstones of IIL's quest for excellence and these state-of-the-art plants facilitate the company's mission to attain and sustain market leadership, through technological and product superiority.

The company's strengths lie in its integrated process management, knowledge management and control systems. And its seamless supply chain management systems further the efficient use of raw materials, while its staff of highly skilled engineers, technicians and managers with specialised domain knowledge, ensure the choice of the relevant technology and the ability to produce international quality products at a competitive price.

In line with its vision for the future, IIL is expanding its HRC capacity to 3.6 million. Moreover, it aims to complete its vertical integration process, increase the proportion of high-grade and value-added steel products in its product mix and leverage the advantage the modern design and the size of the facilities offers.

With investments of over US $2 billion, IIL is the seventh largest Indian private sector company in terms of fixed assets. It aims to consolidate its market leadership in the national specialty steel market by capitalising on the proximity of its manufacturing facilities to major consumers of flat steel products in Maharashtra, while increasing its presence in international markets by using its convenient port location.

In the short span of time since its inception, Ispat Industries has steadily raised the bar - in terms of its relentless pursuit of technological advancement, unwavering focus on innovation, strident emphasis on quality products and its constant initiatives aimed at ensuring customer satisfaction. As it rapidly forges ahead on all these fronts, IIL has successfully reinforced its position as market leader, while simultaneously making technological breakthroughs and setting even higher standards for itself.

GAIL searching for LNG worldwide to meet domestic demand

GAS AUTHORITY OF INDIA LIMITED

NEW DELHI:

State gas utility GAIL India Ltd is scouting for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas suppliers to meet growing domestic fuel

demand, company's new head B C Tripathi said on Saturday.

GAIL, which holds 12.5 per cent stake in nation's largest LNG importer Petronet LNG Ltd, is looking at independently sourcing the liquefied gas in ships even as it is talking to new domestic gas producers like GSPC for sourcing the fuel.

"We are very aggressively looking at gas sourcing, be it from new domestic fields or LNG," said Tripathi, who took over as the Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL today.

54-year-old Tripathi, who was previously Director (Marketing), took office upon retirement of U D Choubey.

"Sourcing and securing gas supplies is one of my top most priorities," he said.

GAIL is looking at importing five million tonnes a year of LNG on long-term contract as well as shipping one spot cargo of LNG a month to meet the rising demand for fuel at industries particularly power plants.

Tripathi said he would also court new domestic gas producers like Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) to buy gas from their fields.

His other priorities included completion of the Rs 28,000 crore worth of pipeline projects in time and within the approved cost as also expanding GAIL's presence in CNG and piped gas retailing in cities.

Dishman pharma : profit rises 41% - 39 cr

AHMEDABAD:

Growth in contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) business, saw the Ahmedabad-based Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals post a 41.4% jump in its consolidated net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009.

Talking to ET NOW, Dishman chairman JR Vyas said: “Even though the topline was flat, the company’s bottomline surged due to good returns from the CRAMS business.” The company had focused on the potential of the CRAMS business, and in June, created a new position to head it. Nicholas Green, who was earlier the president of US-based Codexis Pharmaceuticals, was appointed president of the CRAMS business.

The Rs 1,000-crore company earned 50% of its revenue from Europe during the first quarter of 2009 and 40% from the US and Japan (20% each). While the consolidated profit after tax rose to Rs 39.2 crore from Rs 27.7 crore, the company’s turnover dropped 3% to Rs 227.7 crore from Rs 235.9 crore in the previous year. Dishman’s Switzerland-based subsidiary Carbogen Amcis saw sales surging to Rs 114.9 crore for the first quarter ended on June 30, 2009, compared with Rs 93.7 crore for the same period in the previous year.

The EBITDA stood at Rs 33.1 crore for the first quarter against Rs 12.4 crore last year. Mr Vyas said, Carbogen’s performance contributed to its profit. Foreign exchange fluctuations saw the company provide Rs 31 crore towards forex losses in the second quarter of 2008-09.

However, in the subsequent quarter, the company managed a forex gain of Rs 4.9 crore. The current quarter’s profits include forex gain of Rs 15.1 crore, compared to the previous year’s forex losses Rs 16.45 crore.

On the company’s recent foray into the generics contract research manufacturing and services (generic CRAMS), Mr Vyas said there was no pricing pressure, as his company’s majority revenue did not come from the generics contract business. Dishman does contract manufacturing and contract research for innovator pharma companies. Mr Vyas said, usually pricing pressures were felt by companies who are into generic formulation.

In the previous financial year, Dishman’s consolidated turnover stood Rs 1,062.36 crore, registering a growth of 32%. The pharma major has 16 subsidiaries, three joint ventures and one associate company.

On Friday, Dishman’s share opened at Rs 194.50, scaled up to Rs 200.80, before closing at Rs 184.20, down 1.8% on BSE.

Fall in metal prices drags Hindalco Q1 net down by 31%

MUMBAI: Hindalco Industries, the Aditya Birla group flagship, on Thursday reported a 31% drop in its first quarter net profit, an improvement

over market expectations, as base metal prices fell due to the slowdown.

The Mumbai-based company, which is also India’s largest aluminium producer, said its net profit in the April-June period dipped to Rs 480.56 crore, compared with Rs 696.76 crore in the same period last year. Hindalco’s revenue fell 16% to Rs 3,899.49 crore in the same period.

The company’s performance is much better than what brokerage houses and analysts expected; the street forecast India’s largest metals company to report a net profit of Rs 305 crore, while sales was estimated to be at Rs 3,850 crore.

Prices of base metals including aluminium and copper have fallen sharply from year-ago period, thanks to the recession. On the London Metal Exchange, aluminium is down to $1,485 per tonne, compared with $2,940, a year ago. Copper fell to $4,716 per tonne, against $8,379.

“Despite the fall in metal prices and the impact from recession, Hindalco’s performance has been better than the industry average,” managing director Debu Bhattacharya told ET. “The drop (in profit) must be viewed in the context of the global economic environment, relative to metal companies.”

Though the prices are lower, Hindalco has shown volume increase, indicating recovery in demand. While production of aluminium rose 9%, the rupee depreciated close to 10%. Higher volumes and a weak rupee typically mitigate the impact of lower international prices on the operating profit.

Hindalco’s operating profit for the June 2009 quarter is four-fifths of that earned in the same quarter last year. Also, operating margin contracted by 100 basis points. Hindalco’s operating margin in copper and aluminium rose; the company’s earning before interest and tax margin for aluminium and copper business stood at 32% and 6%, respectively.

Referring to the quarterly results, Mr Bhattacharya said the earnings can’t be compared with the corresponding quarter last year due to early adoption of the AS-30 accounting standards.

AS 30 was issued by the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and came into effect from April 1, 2009. The standard — which typically recognises and measures financial assets, financial liabilities and contracts to buy or sell non-financial items — becomes mandatory only after April 1, 2011.

Separately, Hindalco said its board approved a proposal to raise funds up to $500 million (around Rs 2,400 crore) through Qualified Institution Placement (QIP) issue or a GDR share issue.

My Novel Reading

Right now i am reading JEFFERY ARCHER'S "FALSE IMPRESSION".
it looks very interesting till 3'rd chapter ( i just read this much.. bought today only...GAJJU told me that its good one )

one of the coolest thing about archer is the way he represent his story,,,, right from the start, he just break the ice on u, and u can not resist yourself by reading further.... god knows who gave this guy so much talent and thinking ability to think so much...

my other reading is SACHIN GARG's " A SUNNY SHADY LIFE - AN ICY HOT LOVE ".... but if truly speaking,,,, i don't find this book too much interesting,,, interesting i found that its a bit boring.... i just feel that he want to give too much gyan to us... and just keeps on talking unnecessary things... so boring man....