Steel Authority plans pruning costs to tackle downturn

Kolkata, Dec 5 (IANS) The state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is planning to curtail material handling costs and production facilities to tide over the present economic downturn, a senior company official said here Friday.

'At many of our plants, we are consuming materials and incurring costs far in excess of what is warranted. We need to cut down on such costs,' Sushim Banerjee, executive director (commercial) of the company said during a seminar on 'Steel Resurgence: Success and Survival Strategies', organised by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce.

SAIL has identified 10-15 areas where costs have to be curtailed, Banerjee told reporters on the sidelines of the seminar.

He said at a time when the steel companies are finding it hard to sell steel, undercutting by competitors was a matter of concern.

'It happens in every downturn that companies try to undercut prices to get business. Steel companies should try to maintain prices at this hour of crisis,' Banerjee added.