Essar Steel Iron Ore Sourcing Up 4% in FY19

Essar Steel - an integrated steelmaker with steel making capacity of 10 MnT p.a. recorded an increase in total iron ore & pellet sourcing for FY’19. The sourcing stood at 12.77 MnT in FY’19, up as against 12.32 MnT in FY’18.

Essar Steel imports up 13% in FY'19

Essar Steel's iron ore and pellet imports recorded at 0.97 MnT in FY’19 as against 0.86 MnT in FY’18. Essar Steel was the sole pellet importer in FY19 with entire quantity being booked from Bahrain..

Iron ore procurement from NMDC (C.G.) up on yearly basis

Essar Steel procured 7.39 MnT of iron ore in FY’19 from NMDC's Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh via slurry pipeline, up 4% against FY’18 procurement by the company at 7.11 MnT.

Sourcing from Odisha merchant mines stable on yearly basis

Essar Steel sourced 4.37 MnT iron ore in FY'19 from Odisha's merchant mines, in line with FY’18 sourcing at 4.35 MnT.

Out of the total iron ore sourced from Odisha in FY'19, largest share contributed by Serajuddin at 1.83 MnT (up 85% Y-o-Y). This is due to production resumption by mine from another pit which was closed owing to technical issues. Sourcing from KJS Ahluwalia dropped 38% to 1.24 MnT as compared to 2.01 MnT in FY18.

Sourcing from RP Sao recorded at 0.20 MnT up significantly against being nil in FY’18. RP Sao resumed operations after a period of about 2.5 years as it was last seen offering material in the merchant market towards the end of 2015.

Essar Steel's long-standing bankruptcy case

In the latest update on Essar Steel’s insolvency case, Standard Chartered bank and Essar’s operational creditors challenged ArcelorMittal's resolution plan for Essar Steel in the Supreme Court. As a result, the case remains pending until any decision unveiled by National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

After the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) approved the Arcelor Mittal’s bid on 8 March 2019 to takeover Essar Steel, the company’s three ex-directors challenged NCLT’s order stating that their INR 54,389 crore was superior to Arcelor Mittal’s bid as it clears 100% outstanding of both financial and operational creditors.

However, NCLAT had refused Essar Steel’s ex-directors plea to stay the bankruptcy court’s order approving steel giant ArcelorMittal's INR 42,000 crore takeover bid for Essar Steel.