RINL ACHIEVES BEST EVER SALES IN AUGUST 2009 :  RINL the flagship company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has achieved the best ever sales of Rs1080 Crores in August, 2009 which is the best for any August since inception, despite 'recession' and 'current market driven sales realization'. A significant achievement has been the volume of sale of 'saleable steel to the tune of 3.34 lakh tons in August, 2009 registering a growth of 148% over the corresponding month last year and unheard in recent times.

The thrust on Value Added Steel continues to pay rich dividends and sale of 2.26 lakh tons of 'value added steel' in August' 09 has also registered an impressive growth of 133% over August' 08. During August' 09 about 26,000 tons of Pig Iron was exported. Sales value of By- Products registered a growth of 25% over August' 08. The sale of 44,980 tons of steel to Projects recorded a growth of 8%. 1.05 lakh tons of 'steel inventory' was reduced in August' 09.

During April-August, 2009 10.99 lakh tons of saleable steel was sold, registering a growth of 11% over the corresponding period of last year. Sale of 2.41 lakh tons of Pig Iron during this period registered a growth of 162% over the corresponding period last year. Sale of 8.1 lakh tons of 'Value Added' Steel during this period has also registered a growth of 10% over the corresponding period last year.  On the Expansion front, progress of installation under the expansion plan has picked up during August' 09 crossing a level of 10,000 tons of structural erection and 7000 tons of equipment erection in major units of Blast Furnace, steel Melt Shop, Rolling Mills and other Auxillliary Units.

"RINL POSTS A TURNOVER OF Rs.10411 CRORES FOR 2008-09" : Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the holding Company of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant held its 27th Annual General Meeting on 1st August, 2009 at its Registered Office in Visakhapatnam. The Meeting was chaired by Shri P.K. Bishnoi, Chairman-cum-Managing Director and also a Shareholder and attended by the Shareholders viz. Shri K S Shankar, Director (Finance) and Shri PK Mittal, Under Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Steel, New Delhi who represented the President of India., Shri Y. Manohar, Director (Personnel),  Shri C.G. Patil, Director (Commercial), Shri Umesh Chandra, Director (Operations) and Shri A.P.Choudhary, Director( Projects) have attended the meeting and Shri J K Rao, Executive Director (F&A) attended as an Invitee. Shri V.V. Rammohan and Shri SS Bharadhwaj, Partners representing M/s Rao & Kumar, Chartered Accountants and the Statutory Auditors of the Company for the year 2008-09 have attended the meeting.

Addressing the Shareholders on this occasion, Shri P.K. Bishnoi, CMD, said that the Financial Year 2008-09 has been a turbulent year for the Company. The Company witnessed unprecedented fall in the net sales realization and demand for its products during the 2nd half and forced to curtail production to prevent build up of inventory. In spite of such adverse conditions, the company could manage to achieve a Sales turnover of Rs. 10411 crores as against Rs 10,433 Crores in the previous year by focusing more on value added steel (almost Two Million tonnes).

The Financial year 2008-09 has been a year of two contrasting halves. The first half saw commodity markets booming like never before and steel value chain was no exception, with prices of raw materials and steel products scaling new peaks. The second half of 2008-09 was marked by the sudden and striking impact of the recessionary trends on developed and developing economies, as a result of the global meltdown. Indian steel industry was also among the sectors that were impacted severely by the sudden slump in the market, resulting in huge inventory build up. Bottom line of the steel companies like RINL-VSP, which do not have captive mines for major raw materials, was further eroded by the continued high cost raw materials which were prevailing during the first half when the markets were high. As industries continue to fight the global economic crisis, the Management took it as an opportunity to introspect and re-define strategies to combat the challenge.

The Management took initiatives as follows:

• Regulating / correcting production in the second half of the year so as to restore balance between supply and

• Reduction in the Inventory by appropriate marketing strategies.

• Rationalizing Administrative and other expenditure.

• Proactively carryout repair & maintenance activities and some upgradation.

In order to implement the above, the company banked on qualities like swift learning & adaptability of the RINL collective, to the changing environment. In our efforts to sustain and grow in the niche markets that the company has captured over the years, the production of value added steel remained the thrust area. As a result, value added steel recorded all time high production of 20.08 lakh tons with a growth of 6% over previous year, and the company registered a total sales turnover of Rs 10,411 crs. Also, the company continued its thrust and widened its Rural Distribution Network to reach new customers across the country. On the Expansion front, Orders worth Rs. 9538 Crores have already been placed till March’ 09 and the Expansion project is slated to be completed by 2010-11.

The Company earned a net profit of Rs.1336 Crores for the year 2008-09. The Shareholders of the Company at the AGM have approved the payment of dividend for the year 2008-09 for the first time @ 10% of PAT (Profit after tax). The Company would also be paying 7% dividend on Preference Capital. Inclusive of taxes, the outgo on account of dividends would be Rs 397 Crores. Shri P. Mohan Rao, Dy. General Manager (CA) & Company Secretary read the Auditor’s Report. The Shareholders adopted the Directors’ Report and the Audited Annual Accounts for the period from 1.4.2008 to 31.3.2009.

Sri PK Bishnoi, CMD of RINL takes Charge as Non Executive Chairman of Boards of Various Companies popularly known as ‘Bird Group of Companies’. The ‘Bird Group of Companies’ consist of Orissa Mineral Development Company Limited (OMDC), Bisra Stone Lime Company Limited (BSLC), Eastern Investments Limited (EIL), Karanpura Development Company Limited (KDCL) and Scott & Saxby Limited (SSL). The Orissa Mineral Development Company is having estimated ‘Iron ore’ reserves of over 200 million tonnes and ‘Manganese ore’ of about 44 million tonnes whereas the Bisra Stone Lime Company is having ‘Lime Stone’ reserves of about 367 million tonnes and ‘Dolomite’ reserves of about 287 million tonnes. However ‘mining leases’ in respect of OMDC have to be renewed for which efforts are on. The Board of Directors under the Chairmanship of Sri PK Bishnoi held its first meeting in Bangalore on 28-07-09. Besides ‘Restructuring Plan’, Sri Bishnoi is soon planning to discuss issues related to ‘Modernisation and Mechanisation’ of ‘Non-performing Assets’ and ‘Strategies for implementation’ to enhance ‘Value Added Products’ from these Companies.