|
Ajaokuta rolls out first
steel, 27 years on
By Bassey Udo
Snr
Correspondent, Abuja
History would be made today,
if all goes well, when the Ajaokuta Steel complex produces its first
billet, an event that has waited 27 years.
The roll out from the
multi-billion plant was originally scheduled for October 9, but had to be
shelved because of the national protest organised by the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC).
Managing Director and Chief
Executive of the management contractor, ISPAT Group, Lalit Kumar Sehgal,
confirmed last week in Abuja that prior to the suspension of the scheduled
date, the coke oven at the plant had attained the heat level for ideal for
production.
�Every of our plans for the
take off of operations on the plant are in place. About 15,000 tonnes of
billet have already been imported for the month�s operations. We hope to
increase the volume to about 30,000 tonnes by November and to about 50,000
tonnes subsequently�, he said.
In line with the plant
reactivation schedule, the cold rolling start-up began on September 28,
ahead of the steel roll out proper, while the heating up of the coke oven
production furnace has been on since September 29, to achieve over 1000
degrees centigrade heat level at which temperature is ideal for steel
production.
Said Sehgal: �The billet mill
is up and running. So, also is the sinter plant. We hope to complete the
steel making capacity of the plant on schedule. Today, production furnace
of the plant has achieved over 1,100 degrees centigrade of temperature and
is still rising. Nothing is going to stop our plan to roll out production.
We are on course to make the plant commence full operations in
2005�.
Effort by the government in
the past to get the plant to function failed, resulting in the loss of
billions of naira over the years in maintenance.
A management contract signed
on March 30, 2003 with Solgas Energy Limited for the rehabilitation,
completion, commissioning and operation of the plant, which was 98 per
cent completed at the time it was shut, was terminated last August
following the company�s failure to deliver on the mandate.
A new 10-year agreement was
later signed with Global Infrastructure, an Indian iron and steel
infrastructure company, and member of the ISPAT Group, which pledged to
roll out first steel from the plant by the first week of October, with
full operations within six months of its take over of the
plant.
cal expertise and experience
to execute the contract to meet the expectations of the government and the
people of Nigeria.
About 300,000 tonnes of steel
is to be produced from the plant in the initial roll out, which is
expected to increase marginally to about 400,000 tonnes, in a gradual
build up to the installed capacity.
| 
