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New Delhi: Shri G. Mohan Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, reviewed the marketing function of SAIL at the company's Central Marketing Organisation (CMO) headquarters at Kolkata today. While interacting with senior CMO executives led by SAIL Director (Commercial) Shri Binod Kumar, he advised the company to further widen its international presence and reach value-added steels to newly emerging markets across the world.

During the just concluded financial year 2013-14, SAIL achieved 7% growth in domestic sales combined with a growth of 28% in exports by clocking sales of 12.1 million tonnes in comparison to 11.3 million tonnes the previous year. Appreciating the efforts of the company's marketing team, Shri Kumar urged them to overcome the challenges of the current sluggish market scenario by utilising the opportunities that would come from SAIL's ongoing modernisation & expansion drive. Shri Kumar also evinced keen interest in the variety of stainless steel products produced by SAIL's Salem Steel Plant.

> SAIL-CMO recorded a growth of 3% and 9%, respectively, in sales of long and flat steel products, despite a subdued market during 2013-14.Emphasis on value-added steel sales enabled SAIL to market 2.2 lakh tonnes of special steels, of which nearly one lakh tonnes comprised stainless steel. This is part of the overall production of 5.3 MT of special quality steel produced by the company in FY '14. The year also saw SAIL supplying special quality slabs (in 15CDv6 grade) to meet the requirements of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

In the current financial year, CMO's product basket will be enriched with high-quality wire rods as well as auto-grade cold rolled steel from the brand new mills which have come up up at SAIL's IISCO Steel Plant and Bokaro Steel Plant, respectively.

During his day-long visit, the Steel Secretary also interacted with senior officials of SAIL's Raw Materials Division, as well as of the Kolkata-based PSUs MSTC and HSCL under the Steel Ministry.

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