The interest for the loans taken for the Rs 600-crore new ammonia plant is cited as the major factor for the loss sustained by the company. Of the total outstanding interest of Rs 86 crore, almost Rs 63 crore was for the ammonia plant, FACT chairman V N Rai told mediapersons here today. The company, however, made a cash profit of Rs 12 crore. In 1997-98, FACT had notched up Rs 53.94 crore profit. The prices of petroleum products inputs like naphtha, which is used as fuel for the ammonia plant, have also shot up making it difficult for the company to operate. The selling price of caprolactam has also decreased with the fall in the import duty of caprolactam.

The sales came to Rs 1,270 crore, up by Rs 7 crore over that in 1997-98. Thefertiliser sales turnover came to Rs 895 crore, which is an all-time record.The caprolactam sales at 40,316 tonnes was also higher than that of 39,551 tonnes in the previous year. The domestic sales came to 30,299 tonnes while the export at 10,017 tonnes of caprolactam was a new high. The figures were 33,364 tonnes and 6187 tonnes respectively in 1997-98. The company achieved a record production of phosphatic fertilisers at 7.38 lakh tonnes, with Kochi division contributing 5.80 lakh tonnes at 120% capacity utilisation.

The Udyogmandal division achieved 106% capacity utilisation. Rai said the company has projected a net loss of Rs 60 crore for the current year given the continuing high price of naphtha. FACT has made a sort of turnaround in first three months from January 1999 by taking steps like reducing the cost of inputs and improving productivity.