Jamshedpur, May 9 : Experts on steel feel that every ounce of raw materials such as iron ore, coal and manganese, whose prices are touching all-time highs, should be made proper use of.

‘‘Utilisation of every ounce of these raw materials is of fundamental importance as they play a very important role in the strategy of a company,’’ said H Jha, Tata Steel’s vice-president of long products & safety, at the inaugural session of the two-day 41st Steel Operating Committee (SOC) meeting here on Friday.

He said it was becoming imperative to see how much of every tonne of iron ore or coal being mined in the country was being used to make iron/steel of the best quality.

SOC is a forum where representatives of various steel plants in the country gather for a couple of days each year to discuss various aspects related to steel-making technology and the operating practices involved in the making of steel.

There are around 60 delegates attending the meet, from major steel plants such as Jindal South-West, RINL, SAIL’s RDCIS (Ranchi), Bokaro, Bhilai, Rourkela, Durgapur and Burnpur, among others. Ispat Industries and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd too have shown interest in joining the SOC, which had its first deliberations way back in 1976 at RDCIS, Ranchi.

Topical themes selected beforehand are discussed at the SOC and various ideas are debated upon. Performance and achievements are highlighted.

Jha, delving on this year’s theme of ‘secondary steel making and enhancing caster productivity,’ said secondary steel making in the country hadn’t got the importance it deserved till recently.

‘‘The country only recently started concentrating on secondary steel making,’’ said Jha. He said there was a lot of scope in secondary steel making in the country not only from the point of view of quality but also in terms of productivity and cost.