State-owned manganese ore mining company MOIL clocked its best ever quarterly manganese ore production of 4.36 lakh MT in the first quarter of FY24, posting an year-on-year increase of 35 per cent, said the Ministry of Steel in a statement. Further, the production of 1.5 lakh MT in the month of June is also its best ever production for any June month, since inception, it said. On the sales front, MOIL has also recorded its best ever first quarter sales performance and registered sales of 3.96 lakh MT in the first quarter of the current financial year, with a growth of 39 per cent on-year.
Also, continuing its thrust on exploration activities, MOIL has carried out its best ever quarterly exploratory core drilling of 20,086 metres in the first quarter of FY24, which is 3.8 times as compared to the same period last year. “This will not only form the basis of enhanced production from its existing mines but will also provide the foundation for opening new Manganese mines in the country,” the ministry said.
MOIL has also recorded the highest production of Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD) during the quarter. EMD is a 100 per cent import substitution product, used mostly for pharmaceuticals and manufacturing of batteries. Ajit Kumar Saxena, CMD MOIL, congratulated the firm and expressed confidence that it will continue to work towards the stretch goal fixed for the year.
In the month of May, MOIL had achieved manganese ore production of 1.53 lakh tonnes, marking on-year growth of 43 per cent and sales grew 72 per cent YoY at 1.53 lakh tonnes.
Earlier last month, MOIL had announced its fiscal fourth quarter results for FY 2022-23. In the fourth quarter, MOIL had produced 4.02 lakh tonnes of manganese ore, achieving a growth of 7 per cent in comparison to the same period last year. Sales during the quarter had also improved to 3.91 lakh tonnes, up by 3 per cent on-year. Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide (EMD) sales revenue during the quarter improved by 48 per cent YoY. For FY23, the company had recorded the second highest ever production since its inception. Sales of manganese ore in the year was 11.78 lakhs tonnes, slightly lower than FY22 on account of market conditions.