Iron & Steel Review December 2011 Issue

Highlights of the Issue

Indian Steel moving towards a slowdown

VIEWPOINT

Outlook Promising for Indian Rural Markets
Since its independence, India has experienced steady growth in the steel industry, thanks in part to the successive governments that have supported the industry and pushed for its robust development. A number of steel plants are being established in various parts of India with investments and technological assistance provided by foriegn countries.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Indian Steel moving towards a slowdown
India's IIP (Index of Industrial Production) grew by a meager 1.9 per cent in September, 2011 over 6.1 per cent in the same month of 2010. The IIP growth during April-September (H1 of 2011-12) rose by 5.0 per cent over 8.2 per cent in the same period of 2010-11. The manufacturing sector, having a weight of 75.5 per cent in the IIP grew 5.4 per cent over 8.8 per cent in H1 of 2011- 12 vis-à-vis H1 of 2010-11.

SIEMENS VAI TECHNOLOGY

Long-rolling mills for all productivity and product-quality requirements
The world's ever-changing market for long-rolling products has created a demand for mill equipment that can be quickly and economically adjusted to match these changing needs. Thanks to its many years of experience in designing and building long-rolling mills, Siemens VAI is able to offer a wide range of solutions for different market segments. These solutions can satisfy any requirement, from a simple rolling mill to produce construction/industrial grade products up to a sophisticated rolling mill for high-end, value-added products that meet strict specifications.

New roller-entry guide series for long-product rolling mills
The mergers of the former Ashlow and Morgan Construction Company businesses into Siemens VAI have led to the development of the innovative entry roller guide (ERG) series, composed of 11 different guide sizes. As such, customers now have access to the combined benefits of both companies' many years of expertise.

Morgoil Bearing Technological Upgrade in Ternium-Siderar Hot Strip Mill
The life of a rolling mill is very long, but technology that was state-of-the-art 10, 20, or 30 years ago has been surpassed. Contemporary bearing technology allows new mills to produce higher quality product at increased capacity and less cost than older mills. The purpose of this paper is to explain how upgrades can allow mills with older bearings to compete with new mills. As a mill gets older, advances in rolling technology makes it difficult for older mills to produce the same high quality product at the production levels of newer mills. Ternium-Siderar and MORGOIL® Bearings worked together in order to enable the HSM, using the latest technology, to achieve demanding levels of quality and reliability required by the flat steel market today.

TOPICS & TRENDS

• SAIL Chairman receives CEO of the Year 2011 award

  Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Mr. C.S. Verma has received the CEO of the Year 2011 award under Public Sector Category from Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Dr. Tushar A. Chaudhary.

• Steel Pavilion showcases latest steel technologies, products inaugurated at IITF 2011

  Mr. S. Machendranathan, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Steel (MoS), inaugurated the Steel Pavilion at India International Trade Fair 2011, at Hall No. 18 in Pragati Maidan in the presence of SAIL Director (Commercial) Mr. Shuman Mukherjee, SAIL Director (Finance) Mr. Anil Chaudhary, Joint Secretary, MoS Mr. J.P. Shukla and other senior officials of MoS and PSUs under its jurisdiction.

• We're very bullish on the project': SAIL Chairman on winning Hajigak mining bid

  “It is a huge achievement for the SAIL-led consortium of Indian companies to have won the mining bid for the Hajigak iron ore deposits in Afghanistan. This is the first time that Indian public and private sector companies have come together to jointly bid for an iron ore asset abroad, and we are very bullish about this,” stated Mr. C.S. Verma, Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

• 73 SAIL employees receive Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar

  “It is a matter of pride for all of us that 73 out of 117 awardees, who have won the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) are from Steel Authority of India Limited,” stated SAIL Chairman Mr. C.S. Verma at a felicitation ceremony for VRP awardees organized at SCOPE Complex in New Delhi.

• SAIL-POSCO JV for FINEX Technology based steel plant

  SAIL and POSCO entered into an MoU which provided for commencing JV feasibility study for establishment of a joint venture company for production of cold-rolled nonoriented (CRNO) products and formation of a JV company with FINEX facility at Bokaro or any other location.

• SAIL, Posco resolve differences over Rs. 13,000 cr JV

  State-run SAIL and South Korean Posco seem to have buried their differences, with both parties showing flexibility in finalizing the Rs.13,000-crore joint venture to setup a steel plant at Bokaro in Jharkhand.

• Indian steel output may touch 113 mt by 2016

  The Steel Secretary Shri P.K. Misra said that the Indian Steel industry is projected to touch a production level of 113 million tonnes by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, but it requires some policy corrections to ramp it up further.

• Anupam and Mitsubishi form JV to invest Rs. 280 crore in 2 units at Gujarat

  The Rs. 300 crore Indian crane manufacturing major, Anupam Industries Ltd. and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) have joined hands to form a new joint venture company, ANUPAM-MHI Industries Ltd. This JV will manufacture Port Cranes and Material Handling Equipment for domestic and global markets.

• Water Milestone for IISCO Modernisation

  A major milestone towards modernization was achieved recently at Burnpur when the system devised to supply water to the upcoming IISCO Steel Plant was tested successfully.

• NMDC-Severstal steel plant to be commissioned by 2017

  The proposed steel plant to be setup jointly by stateowned National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Russia's Severstal in Karnataka may be commissioned by 2017.

STEEL INTERNATIONAL

Tenova CEO at the Metec 2011 opening session
The Metec InSteelCon is a major exhibition for the European steel industry that takes place every four years in Germany. Tenova CEO Mr. Gianluigi Nova made a presentation on energy-saving and emission-control technologies applied to steelmaking.

Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union orders heavy-section mill
The Chinese company Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union Co. Ltd. from the province of Inner Mongolia has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of a heavy section mill.

ArcelorMittal appoints Steve Wood for Americas Iron Ore Operations
ArcelorMittal, the world's leading integrated steel and mining company, has appointed Mr. Steve Wood as Vice President and Head of Iron Ore Operations for the Americas region.

FOCUS

Coking Coal - The core issue for the growth of Indian Steel Industry
Indian Coal Industry is the world's third largest in terms of production and fourth largest in terms of reserves. Around 70% of the total production is used for electricity generation and the remaining by the steel, cement and other heavy industries. Broadly, coals are classified as coking coals and non-coking coals [thermal coals]. Coking coals are vital raw material required for producing steel through Blast Furnaces route. Non-coking coals/thermal coals are used as fuel in boilers for power generation and other industries.

COMPANY NEWS

Konecranes smart lifting helps ensure efficiency and safety at Nippon Steel Pipe Vietnam
As port and other infrastructure developments gear up in Vietnam to handle a strongly-growing economy, foreign investment in the manufacture of construction products continues apace.

Elex India wins Samarco IV Contract for ESPs from Centroprojekt Do Brasil SA
Elex India Pvt. Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of Elex AG, Switzerland has received a major contract for manufacture of 4 nos. ESP for Centroprojekt Do Brasil SA project for Outotec Pelletising Plant for Samarco Company in Brasil.

COMPANY PROFILE

MSTC developing new avenues for growth
MSTC Limited, a profit making mini ratna, CPSU functioning under the Ministry of Steel, is considered to be a silent partner of the Indian industry, whether it is the crisis of mining industry in Karnataka because of alleged illegal mining or the problem of coal sector where e-auction coal was diverted to power sector due to acute scarcity of coal in power plants.

KME: World's largest maker of semi-finished copper and copper alloy products
KME (www.kme.com) is the world’s largest manufacturer of semi-finished copper and copper alloy products. With deep roots in the industrial history of several European countries, KME is today a united and competitive enterprise, a leader on an international scale.

FACE TO FACE

We believe in providing optimum and effectual service with a bent of 'beyond conventional' mindset
ANT Steel Asia puts forward an array of total consultancy services including designing, productivity development, training etc. The company's mantra is to follow a 'different' path throwing a light of focus on effective output while being slow and steady at the same time, states Dr. Sudarshan Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, ANT Steel Asia in a discussion with Mr. Santosh Mahanti, Editor and Managing Director, Iron & Steel Review.

INDIAN STEEL

Indian Steel Industry - Competitiveness and Challenges
India currently stands at an impressive record of economic growth. The average GDP growth in 2007-2010 was recorded at 8%. Besides, there was acceleration even within the tenth five year plan period (2002-2007) where the growth rate in the last four years (of the plan) had averaged 8.7%, making India one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Also, India exhibited resilience in the face of global economic crisis by posting a growth of 6.7% in 2009 as the world’s economy contracted by 2.1%.

STEEL MARKET

Managing change for market leadership in Indian Steel Sector through E-Commerce
During the initial period of post-independence, Indian Steel Industry has been in hands of mainly the public sector with hardly any competition in the country. This period could be treated as a prime time for public steel sector. This was a sorry state of Indian Steel Industry after oil –shock of 1973 necessitating change management. While global steel producers were adapting new processes to reduce their energy intensity and cost of production substantially, the Indian Steel Industry, insular to such measures, soon became least competitive. By eighties, the industry reflected a discouraging scenario due to low capacity utilization, low productivity, rising production cost, high energy consumption, process inefficiency and technology obsolescence etc.

FERRO ALLOYS

Indian Manganese Ferro Alloy Industry - An Overview
The Ferro Alloy Industry covers a wide spectrum by manufacturing series of varied ferro alloys. It may get diversified into four main sections, Manganese Ferro Alloys (High Carbon-HC, Medium Carbon-MC and Low Carbon- LC Ferromanganese and Silicomanganese), Chromium Alloys (HC, MC & LC Ferro Chrome, Silico Chrome and Charge Chrome), Ferro Silicon and Noble Ferro Alloys (Ferro Molybdenum, Ferro Nickel, Ferro Phosphorus, Ferro Vanadium, Ferro Tungsten, Ferro Silico Magnesium, Ferro Boron, Ferro Titanium, Ferro Zirconium, etc.).

STAINLESS STEEL INDUSTRY

Indian Stainless Steel Industry in the Global Context
Stainless steel is a highly durable alloy that constitutes 10 to 30 percent of Chromium by mass as the major ingredient responsible for corrosion resistance and/or oxidation and more than 50 per cent iron. Carbon is usually present at 0.03 per cent to over 1.0 per cent in some martenistic grades. It has a high strength to weight ratio and excellent fatigue resistance properties. Stainless steel has also aesthetic appeal, excellent lusture, low wear, increased strengths and high durability.

PRODUCT/MARKET

Emerging Packaging Trends in B2B/Industrial Products
Industrial or B2B products are manufactured by one business and are sold directly to another business to be used as raw material or in manufacturing process. Industrial Lubricants, Bearings, Steel products like CR sheets, Automotive Components etc. fall into this category.

COLD ROLLING & GALVANIZING

Indian Galvanised / Colour Coated Steel Industry - An Overview Galvanized
Steel is a versatile product and has a wide range of applications from the manufacture of a small pin to automobile, railway system, aircrafts, defence materials, big engineering projects, roads, bridges, housing, nuclear projects, generation and distribution of power, port construction building of irrigation dams and in many other areas in the development of economy and industry of a country.

AUTOMATION

Process Automation Solutions
The traditional hierarchy levels of the industrial control system span from Level 0 (Drives and Actuators) to Level 3 (Production Planning). Level 2 coordinates the control references and product data distribution to other parts of the system such as Level 1 and HMI. The references can be generated by process models or can come from preset data known as stored schedules. Level 2 also includes the gathering and storage of process data as well as the generation of production reports. The set of functions required to support such activities forms the Supervisory Process Automation software infrastructure. This article describes a structured approach to the implementation of such systems that takes advantage of modern software design technologies while providing multiple benefits to the automation supplier and end-users alike.

STEEL TECHNOLOGY

Innovative solutions for cold roll materials
Primary hardening steels (here referred to as “DHQ”, deep hardening quality) represent the first and still strongly dominant class of cold roll materials (fig. 1). They are characterised by possessing their maximum hardness directly after quenching. Every tempering process leads to a decrease of that hardness.

REFRACTORY

Recent trend in bottom purging refractories
Bottom Purging is one of the important aspects in steelmaking as far as refining of steel is concerned. High performing purging plugs are becoming the need for steelmakers to minimize the downtime and take extended life cycles in specific working environment. This paper will discuss on the different qualities being used for making these purging plugs, their advantages & disadvantages.

METAL INDUSTRY

Maintenance of Tapered bearings
Tapered bearings consist of four interdependent components: the cone (inner ring), cup (outer ring), tapered rollers (rolling elements) and cage (roller retainer).

PRE-ENGINEERED BUILDINGS

Pre-Engineered Buildings : looking up to a better future
It's been a while since Pre-Engineered buildings or PEBs have come to the industry scene. However, the map of growth has showcased a high as each and every kind of non-residential building is choosing PEBs, in airports, railway stations, factories, power plants or petrol pumps.

CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

TUBOTECH represents the South American tube industry in Sao Paulo - a resounding success
The atmosphere at the Imigrantes Exposicoes Exhibition Centre in Sao Paulo was excellent. Satisfied smiles reflect what had already been announced earlier, that the number of exhibitors had risen to 420 (from 320 in 2009). The industry is doing well in South America, and about 18,000 visitors attended the fair (up from 16,500 in 2009) which lasted from 4 - 6 October to discuss and close deals at TUBOTECH in Sao Paulo.