A cursory read on Shyam Steel ( TMT Bar Manufacturing Plants and Process with Latest Technology ) should give you the difference between what they are doing and what NMDC is doing.
NMDC starts from mining to beneficiation to handling its own logistics to shift the ores to the iron manufacturing plant to manufacturing iron then converting into crude steel and then to finished product. They have a lot of control over major cost inputs - iron ore, power and logistics. A lot of support / auxiliary facilities such as a massive investment in-house maintenance facilities / material testing labs, etc. will also play a big role in quality and cost controls. The only major input over which they have very little control is coking coal. Whereas, Shyam Steel starts their production from manufacturing of crude steel onwards. TMT bars have a different value proposition as compared to flat products or blooms / billets.
So when you read words like greenfield / brownfield in a news article, you first need to check greenfield / brownfield of what?
Comparing one plant to another without understanding the inputs, logistics and outputs of each plant will give inaccurate valuation. For example even within a single company like SAIL, their plants in Bhilai / Rourkela / Bokaro / Durgapur / Burnpur / Bhadravati / Chandrapur have very different value proposition. Each plant will need to be assessed & valued individually.
This reminds of the (in)famous public statement by the former CEO of Arcelor Mr. Guy Dolle, a few days after Mittal Steel announced plans to take over Arcelor in 2006 that “Mittal Steel made ‘eau de cologne’ while Arcelor created perfume”. While that comment was widely panned for sounding a bit racist, the crux is correct that you cannot value all steel plants equally on the basis of valuation/tonnage metric.
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