Bokaro Steel Plant employees overcame seemingly insurmountable odds in September to surpass the monthly production target while observing all safety protocols.

Apart from battling Covid-19, the company -- a unit of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) -- was trying to cater to huge domestic and international orders which it had received with the revival of the steel market.

The production target for September was 2,80,000 tonnes; the company, on the other hand, achieved a production of 2,82,030 tonnes (around 101 per cent).

BSL has made a strong comeback with growth in production in September in comparison to the comparative period last year (CPLY).
September saw a peak in Covid-19 cases in the district. Achieving the production target was difficult as every day, positive cases would surface in the plant. Braving the odds, around 11,000 employees and officials focused on enhancing production to meet the demand.

Till now, 156 BSL employees and officials have been infected by the coronavirus. Of them, about 100 BSL employees, including senior officials, tested positive in September. Currently, there are 13 active cases in BSL. However, the number of cases is declining in October.

The chief of communication, BSL, Manikant Dhan, said the production, which was curtailed to almost half during the lockdown, has been revamped from September. BSL has exported more than 18,000 tonnes of steel to other countries, including China and Vietnam, in a single month. “We are overcoming challenges posed by Covid-19,” he added.

With demand for flat products picking up in the market, the plant is all braced up to meet the increased demands by starting operation of its four blast furnaces. BSL has five blast furnaces, but during lockdown, three of them were shut down to decrease the production. In September, two blast furnaces were revamped while one is in capital repair.

Dhan said: “Almost all production units of the plant recorded growth in September compared to last year. There was a growth of 12 per cent in production of hot metal, 7 per cent growth in production of crude steel, almost 40 per cent jump in production of HR coils and an impressive 27 per cent increase in saleable steel production as compared to CPLY. BSL has achieved 101 per cent of the production target in September.”

Besides, Blast Furnace-1 has made a new daily production record, producing 4,062 tonnes of hot metal in September. BSL also recorded the highest monthly granulated slag production in September. Slag is sold by BSL to cement industries. Along with a remarkable improvement in production, BSL also despatched around 2,97,000 tonnes of its products to customers in September, which includes more than 18,000 tonnes of export orders.

“Ninety per cent of the steel has been dispatched to China while 10 per cent to Vietnam in September,” said Dhan. During the lockdown, China has been a prime overseas customer of BSL and had placed orders for about 1,50,000 hot roll coils and slab since June. A majority of those orders were dispatched. Apart from China, BSL also received orders from Nepal and Vietnam.

The director in charge of BSL, Amarendu Prakash, also joined his office in September. Before it, the BSL plant had run without a full-fledged CEO for about 10 months. Prakash after joining is all set to create new benchmarks by focusing on the quality of products and services, apart from greater efficiency in all operational parameters. He has asked officials and employees to ensure 100 per cent dedication in their work.