Bhushan aims to start Bowen mines in four years

Secondary steel manufacturer Bhushan Steel plans to start coal production from its Australian subsidiary Bowen Energy’s mines in the next three to four years.

“The preliminary exploration has been completed and now the reserve estimation will be done. Then a mining plan will be prepared and the development of the mines will begin,” said Nitin Johri, director - finance, Bhushan Steel. He is also the managing director of Bowen Energy.

Bowen Energy, a mineral exploration and production company in Queensland, was acquired by Bhushan Steel in 2009. Currently, Bhushan holds 70% stake in Bowen.

While Johri did not comment on the reserve and the capital expenditure for the development of the mines, he said they will be opened for production and transportation “in the next three to four years.”

During the same period, the company is targeting to increase its backward integration from almost zero now to 100% in coking coal and thermal coal, and 60% in iron ore.

An analyst with a leading domestic brokerage said, “The company margins are comparatively higher as compared to peers which also operate on zero backward integration and hence are not sustainable. Therefore, there will soon be a correction.”

For the year ended March 2010, the company posted a net operating margin of 27.84% and net profit margin of 15%. “The margin cannot improve unless there is some backward integration and for that the company will have to wait for another four years unless Bowen comes onstream,” the analyst said.

He said another trigger for the stock will be when it plans to unlock the value of its power business, for which there is so far no clarity.

However, Johri said the company is mulling an initial public offering of its power business in the next two years.

“The land acquisition process for our thermal coal mine in India will be completed in three to four months and in the next year-and-a-half we will be able to start mining coal,” he said. After the coal production begins, the company can look forward to unlocking the value of the power business and bring in funds through an IPO to expand it further, he said.

The company plans to have a power capacity of up to 3,000 mw by 2015-16. Johri said the company is now not looking at overseas assets as it is currently focussed on developing the assets owned by Bowen Energy.