Page 9 - Steel Metallurgy eMagazine Volume April 2026

FACE TO FACE

mines into the merchant market — all
of it is consumed internally. Our Odisha
mines supply is partly sold and partly
consumed. The newly acquired Goa
mines are being used for dolomite. Our
philosophy is straightforward: whatever
mining resources we acquire, we convert
them into valuable finished steel products
for our customers.

NM : Are you currently charging pellets
into your blast furnaces at Vijayanagar,
and what is the long-term pellet burden
target?

LRS : Yes. At Vijayanagar we have
reached 40% pellet burden in our blast
furnaces. Our nearby plant, BMM Ispat, around 75%. Our current pellet capacity NM : Of course, pellet utilisation must
operates at 80%, and Dolvi Steel at
is 16 million tonnes per annum, and we also respond to market economics —
plan to add another 8 million tonnes as when lump ore prices fall or supply is
we expand toward 24 million tonnes of abundant, economics can shift. Do you
steel. By the time we reach that capacity, agree?
our pellet burden in the blast furnace will
rise to 53%. LRS : Absolutely. Everything ultimately
Better-quality pellets boils down to economics and the ability
improve blast furnace The logic is clear: as we invest in new to serve customers competitively. Lump
efficiency, reduce costs, beneficiation facilities, we will produce ore is abundantly available in this region,
and contribute directly to concentrates with a finer particle size but the lump we find here tends to be
that are ideally suited to pellet-making. fragile — low tumbler index — making
decarbonisation Better-quality pellets improve blast it difficult to charge directly into the very
furnace efficiency, reduce operating large, modern furnaces we are building.
costs, and contribute to decarbonisation. Our direction, therefore, is to convert
This is our long-term strategic objective. even lump into fines and then produce
higher-quality pellet feed. The economics
of pellets versus lump will always be
weighed, but structurally, pellets are
becoming our preferred burden material.
NM : As Mr. Murugan noted this
morning, the US/China processes ores
with as little as 30–35% Fe — even red
soil. In India that economics doesn't yet
work. What are JSW's plans for low-
grade iron ore utilisation?

LRS : This is a very valid and very
important question. Across India — and
particularly in this belt — ore grades
are trending downward. We are seeing
increasingly siliceous ores, as well as
ores with higher alumina content. JSW
Vijayanagar is already in the process of
establishing a dedicated BHQ (Banded
Hematite Quartzite) beneficiation plant

APRIL 2026 STEEL & METALLURGY 9