The company managed to reduce stocks by 5.9 lakh tonne during the fiscal just gone by. The Steel Authority of India had focused on liquidation of inventories from the start of this fiscal and managed to bring down its stocks to 6.42 lakh tonne by the end of the year, says a company release.

Steel sales in the domestic market surpassed 8.2 million tonnes, to record a growth of 11 per cent over the previous year. The company also sold 4.8lakh tonnes of pig iron in the home market, which was 65 per cent higher than in the year before.

Despite unfavourable conditions in the international market, total export shipment by SAIL in 1998-99 crossed 4.9 lakh tonnes of iron and steel, yielding foreign exchange earnings of Rs 585 crores.

In a printed statement, SAIL chairman Arvind Pande has termed the record of highest-ever sales in one of the most difficult years as a commendable achievement.

"Our strategies for meeting the exact requirements of customers and liquidating stocks have yielded results. We are confident of improving upon our achievements," said Pande. The organisation, he said, was now geared towards achieving further cost reduction over and above the Rs 1,600 crore already saved in the last two years.

The impressive growth in total sales was propelled by the increase in sales of wire rods, light and medium structurals, HR coils, CR coils/sheets, GP/GC sheets, CRNO products and tinplates.

The increased volume of sales testifiedto the success of the strategies adopted to enhance customer satisfaction, according to a SAIL release. ``Direct despatches from the plants constituted 50 per cent of total sales with over 3.6 million tonnes door-delivered to the customer."

Commenting on the prospects for 1999-2000, Pande said that while demand in the next fiscal was not expected to change dramatically, SAIL with its controlled inventories and better products, was well placed to garner a higher share of the future steel market.