Oman steel mill achieves record production

Omani steel maker Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel (JSIS) has announced that fiscal 2019-2020 was a banner year for its integrated steel complex located within Sohar Port, with the company notching several production records notwithstanding the constrained regional economic environment. The Sohar complex is a key source of hot briquetted iron (HBI), steel billets and rebars for the infrastructure, construction and hydrocarbon industries in Oman and the wider region. “We are happy to report that 2019-20 was a record-breaking year when it came to our production units,” said Jindal Shadeed in a series of tweets over the weekend. “All three of our production units performed at their highest ever annual capacities -- better than their nameplate production capacities for the month of March 2020,” it noted.  The company’s financial year runs from April 1 to March 31. The Direct Reduction Iron (DRI) plant, which is the centerpiece of the Sohar complex, achieved its “highest annual production” of 1.775 million tons per annum (MTPA) in 2019-20, surpassing its previous best of 1.547 MTPA achieved during the previous fiscal year, the company said. This compares with a nameplate capacity of 1.5 MTPA, attesting to its superior operational performance during the year. Likewise, the Steel Melting Shop (SMS) recorded its “highest annual production” of 1.87 million tons in 2019-20, surpassing its previous high of 1.71 million tons in 2018-19, the company said. Featuring a pair of Electric Arc and Ladle Refining furnaces, the Steel Melt Shop produces square and round billets or blooms for steel mills and downstream processing plants. Many of the production records came during March 2020, according to the company. Output from the Steel Melting Shop hit a monthly high of 202K metric tons, surpassing the previous record of 185K metric tons achieved in January this year.  Also in March, the DRI plant notched a record daily production of 5,466 metric tons, which was achieved on March 6, 2020. Commencing operations in 2011 with an investment of around $1.1 billion, Jindal Shadeed Iron & Steel LLC (JSIS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the $18 billion Indian-based O P Jindal Group, which has interests in steel production, power generation, mining and infrastructure.