Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Limited (KFIL), a castings and pig iron manufacturer in India, announced that it is restarting its mini blast furnace at Hiriyur. KFIL had temporarily halted operations of the blast furnace at Hiriyur on 22 February 2024 in response to challenging market conditions characterized by weakened demand and declining pig iron prices.
“This strategic decision reflected KFIL’s commitment to prudent operational management amidst fluctuating market dynamics, ensuring sustainability and efficiency in its production processes,” the company said.
With the recent upturn in market sentiment and improvement in pig iron prices, KFIL restarted the operations of the Hiriyur mini blast furnace effective 15 April 2024.
“We are pleased to announce the recommencement of operations at our Hiriyur blast furnace facility. This decision reflects our strategic vision to swiftly adapt to evolving market dynamics, ensuring sustained value delivery to our stakeholders while upholding the highest standards of operational excellence,” said RV Gumaste, MD of KFIL.
Earlier in October last year, the company had acquired Oliver Engineering for Rs 110.55 crore to expand its casting capacity. It is the second acquisition by KFIL. Oliver Engineering is into ferrous casting and machining, with a manufacturing hub in Sandharsi, Rajpura in Punjab. The year before that, Kirloskar Ferrous had acquired a majority stake in Indian Seamless Metal Tubes (ISMT) for Rs 476.63 crore.