NMDC’s Q4 iron ore production grows 37.5%, sales up 28%

National mining company NMDC on Wednesday declared its highest ever dividend of 700 per cent for financial year 2012-13 against 450 per cent in 2011-12. The public sector undertaking's (PSU) fourth quarter (January-March 2013) iron ore production growth in volumes was 37.5 per cent while its sales rise was 28 per cent. NMDC's total turnover for the quarter increased 23.5 per cent compared to the corresponding year-ago period.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The company achieved record production and sales of iron ore in the quarter of 9.57 mt and 8.24 mt respectively. <br><br>The output and sales increase of 37.5 per cent and 28 per cent respectively compared to the fourth quarter of 2011-12 was accomplished inspite of the slurry pipeline not being available at all for evacuation. NMDC also recorded a growth of 23.5 per cent in turnover to Rs 3,204 crore in the fourth quarter compared to Rs 2,595 crore in the coresponding period of the last fiscal.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For the financial year 2012-13 as a whole, the company's production and sales of iron ore were 27.184 mt and 26.274 mt respectively, figures marginally lower by 1 and 4 per cent respectively compared to 2011-12.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Commenting on the results, NMDC Chairman C S Verma said, 'NMDC has been in the forefront of providing raw material security to the steel industry. In spite of challenges, NMDC is adhering to its pivotal role in the country's industrial development. With the increase of iron ore demand from the domestic steel industry, <br><br>NMDC is committed to achieving 48-mt iron ore output by 2014-15.'&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The company's total turnover for fiscal 2012-13 was Rs 10,704 crore, 5 per cent lower than the Rs 11,262 crore figure for 2011-12. This was mainly due to incessant rainfall, low iron ore off-take by customers and evacuation problems in the Bailadila region during the second and third quarters of the year.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;NMDC, as part of its forward integration programme and value addition, is setting up a 3-mtpa steel plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, for which most of the major packages have been finalised and awarded. <br><br>So far, cumulative orders worth Rs 13,475 crore have already been placed and expenditure of over Rs 2,346 crore has been incurred on the project. &lt;br&gt;Work on some packages has started and the project will be completed by 2015-16. NMDC’s capital expenditure in 2012-13 was Rs 1607.24 crore. Expenditure of Rs 2,720 crore is planned for the current fiscal (2013-14).