Steel mills: Shipments increase coal stocks to 158,000 tons

PS planning to achieve 77% production level by January.

KARACHI: Two ships – DL Dahlia and Ever Mighty – carrying 110,000 tons of coal from Australia, have arrived at the Pakistan Steel Jetty at Port Muhammad Bin Qasim, Karachi.

According to Pakistan Steel Mills (PS), the ships reached the jetty on September 5 and 6.

Now, the coal stock of PS has increased to 158,000 tons, while the quantity of iron ore (lump and fine) has reached 52,000 tons.

PS management said on Wednesday that they are confident the arrival of the latest shipments of coal will increase production and capacity utilisation of the mills, helping achieve the targets set by the government.



Though at present the capacity utilisation stands at a low of 25%, the workers and staff, under the supervision of Chief Executive Officer Major General (retired) Zaheer Ahmed Khan, are hoping to revive this national asset.

Furthermore, the arrival of raw material will help to increase production level up to 77% by January 2015. However, timely release of financial lifelines will be of pivotal importance.

The management thanked the government, especially the Ministry of Industries and Production, Privatization Commission, Ministry of Finance and related organisations for their positive role in the revival of the industry.

Officials pointed out that one more ship carrying 55,000 tons of iron ore from Mauritania will arrive in the third week of the current month. In addition to that, another ship loaded with 55,000 tons will reach next month from Mauritania.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2014.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.