History of Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd.
YEAR EVENTS 1955 - The Comp. was incorporated on 27th September at M.P. The company, manufactures standard grade high carbon ferro manganese & other ferro alloys complementary to ferro manganese production, such as low carbon ferro manganese, ferro silicon, special iron phosphorous & such other ferro alloys.
- Best Minerals Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of company.
1956 - 250 No. of equity shares issued without payment in cash. 1000 Pref. & 23,100 No. of Equity shares taken up by promoters etc. 9,000 Pref. & 16,650 No. of equity shares offered at par to the public in September.
1964 - The Comp. undertook to implement the licence in hand for manufacture of low carbon ferro-manganese & carbon ferro-chrome.
1966 - The Comp. entered into an agreement with Elektrokemisk A/s. Oslo, Norway & A.B. Electro-Invest of Sweden for supply of plant & machinery & for required technical know-how to be supplied to the Comp. by Wagons of Sweden, one of leading manufacturers of low carbon ferro-chrome tin in the world.
1969 - The slag furnace was also commissioned for manufacture of low carbon ferro-chrome.
1977 - 1,19,695 Bonus Equity shares issued in prop. 1:1.
1978 - The Comp. had taken on leave an licence the mini-steel plant of Vidarbha Iron and Steel Corporation, Ltd., from 3rd October.
1980 - Early in the Comp. issued 75,000-11% non-convertible debentures of Rs. 100 each as rights in the proportion of 2 debentures for every 7 equity shares held. Only 59,901 debentures for Rs. 59,90,100 were taken up. The funds thus raised were to be utilised exclusively for working capital purposes.
- 200 forfeited shares reissued to the company employees [prem. Rs. 60 per shares] in April. 1,19,795 bonus No. of equity shares allotted in October in prop. 1:2.
1981 - In September, the Comp. set up a wholly indigenous 16 MVA furnace at its works at Shreeramnagar for production of various ferro alloys.
- During November, the Comp. offered 3,00,000-13 1/2% convertible bonds of Rs. 250 each for cash at par. Out of this, bonds reserved for preferential allotment were [is] 10,000 bonds to the employees, directors & business associates of company.
- [iis] 60,000 bonds to non-resident Indians & persons of Indian origin resident abroad, & investors from Oil Exporting Developing Countries with repatriation rights and
- [iiis] 30,000 bonds to the existing equity shareholders of the company.
- Each bond carries an option to get redeemed Rs. 140 per bond within a period of 3 months from the expiry of 3 years from the date of allotment & in lieu of such amount get allotted one equity share of Rs. 100 each of Comp. at a premium of Rs. 40 per share.
- The bonds carry interest at the rate of 13 1/2% per annum with an additional 1% in any financial year if the dividend on the equity shares in the immediately preceding financial year is 15% or more.
- The repayment will be made at the rate of Rs. 25, Rs. 25, Rs. 25, & Rs. 35 at the end of 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th years respectively from the date of allotment of bonds.
- When the option to receive equity shares is not exercised, the repayment will be made at the rate of Rs. 60, Rs. 60, Rs. 60 and Rs. 70 at the end of 7th, 8th, 9th & 10 years respectively from the date of allotment of bond.
1982 - The rate of interest was raised to 12% with effect from 1st January.
- 25,000 - 9 1/2% II Pref. shares redeemed on 30th November.
1983 - The company manganese ore sinter pilot plant at Shreeramnagar was inaugurated in August.
- During March, the Comp. set up a 100% EOU unit in Orissa for the manufacture of 50,000 tonnes of charge chrome per annum. Two weeks after the plant was commissioned, Orissa Electricity Board imposed a 90% power cut & consequently the plant had to be shut down. The plant was restarted in July.
- In order to augment the long-term resources for working capital requirements, the Comp. issued in September, 6,00,000-15% secured non-convertible debentures of Rs. 100 each as rights to the resident Indian equity shareholders & to holders of 11% rights mortgage debentures.
1984 - The chrome ore beneficiation plant was commissioned in March. The agglomeration plant for making briquettes was commissioned in November.
- The secondary steel making unit & new reheating furnace in the rolling mill were commissioned.
- 1,92,877 No. of equity shares issued [prem. Rs. 40 per shares] on conversion of 13 1/2% bonds [1,91,217 shares & 1,660 shares in 1985-86s].
1985 - The gas cleaning plant in February.
1986 - The metallic recovery plant was commissioned in September.
- A 24' rolling mill & 8.5' radius bloom caster were being installed to improve the unit working. In May the induction furnace was commissioned.
- All the III Pref. shares redeemed on 30th December.
1987 - The Comp. diverted its production activity to the manufacture of high-value products in view of heavy reduction in power supply necessitating reduction in production of silico manganese, ferro silicon etc.
1989 - However, the profitability was adversely affected mainly due to erratic power supply, general increase in the costs of power, labour & raw materials & stiff competition.
1990 - In the ferro alloys division, the furnace lost 8160 hrs of power supply due to power cuts & load shedding. In addition, the fourth furnace was closed from December to March 1991 due to break - down of transformer.
- Due to relining of furnace which was taken up after 7 years of operation. Severe load sheddings & frequent power trippings also lead to unsatisfactory performance. - A captive power plant with a capacity of 21 MW was being set up.
- The Vacuum Degassing & Vacuum Oxygen Decarburization facilities in the steel melting shop were commissioned.
- 27,61,310 No. of equity shares of Rs. 10 each offered as rights [prem. Rs. 40 per share; in prop. 5 shares for each share of Rs. 100s] 4,11,353 additional shares allotted to retain oversubscription. Existing shares of Rs. 100 subdivided on 20th February. Another 1,38,060 shares of Rs. 10 each offered to the employees [prem. Rs. 40 per shares] but only 39,300 shares taken up. Allotment of 2,842 shares pending.
1991 - Despite these favourable results, the overall working resulted in losses due to reasons such as hike in cost of production of ferro manganese, ferro chrome etc., & power cut to the extent of 50%. Moreover, closure of furnace No. 1 for about 2 1/2 months, furnace No. 4 for a month for repair & maintenance work and closure of furnace No. 2 by virtue of transformer failure etc., added to the problems.
1992 - With the installation of captive power plants in the factories both at Shreeramnagar in A.P. & at Randia in Orissa, the chronic power problem shortage has been mitigated.
- The rolling mill had rolled sections of 160 mm dia first time and 125 mm dia for seamless applications.
1993 - The Comp. suffered loss due to severe competition both in the domestic & international markets, lower realisation & heavy burden of interest charges.
- 52,40,750 Rights equity shares issued [prop. 3:5; prem. Rs. 25s] of these 8,974 shares kept in abeyance.
1994 - The agreement was made between the Comp. & Vidarbha Iron & Steel Corporation.
- In terms of rehabilitation package, the Comp. issued Rs. 34 crores zero interest debentures to the financial institutions redeemable in 4 quarterly instalments commencing from 15.5.1996. The option for conversion into equity shares of Comp. at par to be exercised on or before 31.12.1996.
1995 - Despite power cuts, load shedding & furnace shut downs. Production was higher over previous year.
- 68,85,621 No. of equity shares of Rs. 10 each at par allotted on conversion of 0% OFCD.
1996 - Production & sales declined marginally due to shut down of furnace for repair.
1997 - Overall production & sales declined due to depressed market conditions.
- The Company networth stands fully eroded due to heavy losses & accordingly, the Comp. was required to make reference to BIFR as per the provisions of Section 15 of Sick Industrial Companies Act, 1985.
1998 - During the year 1997-98, the working of Comp. was once again adversely affected by various factors
- The Furnace in the Steel Division was closed for 53 days during the year for want of orders as well as scrap & due to transporters' strike.
- The Comp. has issued & allotted 2,64,416 - 20% Secured Redeemable Non-convertible Debentures of Rs. 100/- each on 22nd November, 1997 to The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Limited as & by way of conversion of certain outstanding payments aggregating to Rs. 2,64,41,600/- payable to them by Company.
- The Comp. has received EEPC All-India Award for export excellence for the year 1996-97 in the category 'Prime Metal - Ferrous and Non-ferrous Exporters - Non-SSI' from Engineering Export Promotion Council.
- The Comp. has also been nominated as winner of first prize for outstanding export performance during 1996-97 for product group category 'Minerals and Ferro Alloys' by the Confederation of Export Units.
- Shri Jamnadhar Mor, Shri M.B. Thaker & Shri R.K. Saraf, Directors of Company, retire by rotation and, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election.
2000 - The Comp. has lifted the lock out at its Andhra Pradesh plant with effect from June 12. It was declared on March 19, 2000.
2004
-The Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction [BIFRs] has approved a rehabilitation scheme for ailing Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd
2005
-Ferro Alloys Corporation enters into JV with PMCI
2007
-Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd has informed that Shri. R K Saraf a Director of Comp. has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Comp. w.e.f. June 29, 2007 by Board of Directors of Comp. at its meeting held on June 29, 2007.
