January 24, 2012: Essar Steel India Ltd expects to commence commercial production from its 12 million tons per annum (mtpa) iron ore beneficiation unit at Dabuna from January itself, and the same capacity pellet plant at Paradeep in Odisha will be operational in two months' time, company's chief financial officer Amit Agarwal, told ISMW.
"We have completed work on around 253 km pipeline from Dabuna to Paradeep," Agarwal said.
He said the iron ore will be beneficiated at Dabuna and transported through pipelines to Paradeep for pelletisation, which in turn will be taken to their steel plant at Hazira by sea route.
The project has been planned in a way that it will use low grade iron ore fines from 54% Fe content to 60% Fe content that are unused and not easily consumable, he said.
The company had taken up beneficiation facility at Dabuna, with the intention that it will be able to use low Fe content material at a phenomenally cheaper price of around $10/ton.
With the completion of this new facility, Essar will become India's largest producer of pellets with a combined capacity of 20 mtpa. The company already has a 8 mtpa pellet plant in Vizag for which it gets low grade iron ore from NMDC through long term agreements.
Source: ISMW