JSW Steel in Ballari, India, still without iron ore mine

JSW Steel’s 10Mt/yr steel plant in Ballari, India, still depends upon exported iron ore. While the plan back in the late nineties was to give the plant its own mine, it has yet to materialise nearly 20 years on from when the plant was commissioned in 1997.

The Ballari plant’s claim to fame is that it houses the largest blast furnace in India and the widest hot strip mill.

The plant is also known for producing ‘green steel’ as it re-uses more than 95% of process waste and has a low carbon footprint. Some 96% of coke oven gas is recycled for power generation, it is claimed.

Iron ore is not cheap to buy so having it’s own mine would make steel production at Ballari much cheaper, according to JSW’s president of operations P Rajashekhar.