Rourkela Steel Plant, a unit of the state-run SAIL, has registered a record monthly production of 3,33,840 tonne of hot metal in August, a statement said on Tuesday. The monthly road dispatch of prime material at 54,183 tonne was also an all-time high.

"The steel plant made 3,33,840 tonnes of hot metal from two blast furnaces, posting its best-ever monthly production. Of this, blast furnace-1 made 89,459 tonne, thereby creating a new record in production for any month since inception," RSP said in a statement.

Besides, new plate mill set a fresh record by dispatching 91,138 tonnes of plates during the month, it said.

The mill rolled 7,958 slabs and produced 22,591 plates, which are new records, the RSP said, adding that the captive power plant-three clocked 41.6-megawatt daily average electricity generation which is its all-time-best for any month.

"Blast furnace-1 notched up its best-ever single-day production of 3,552 tonne on August 17, while on August 19 the steel melting shop-2 created a new record by making 73 blows from two converters on a single day," the RSP said.

Addressing the senior officers of the plant in a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Dipak Chattaraj, CEO of RSP, applauded all the production departments as well as supporting units for the performance.

"I am proud of my colleagues for registering splendid performance in all major areas of production and dispatch while battling against COVID-19," he added.