Archive > Iron & Steel Review > February 2013

Iron & Steel Review Febraury 2013 Issue

Indian Steel Industry - Challenges and the tasks ahead

VIEWPOINT

Iron Ore : Future Market Outlook
Iron & Steel is the driving force behind industrial development in a country. The strength of iron & steel industry largely influences its economic position. The mining of iron ore, an essential raw material for iron & steel industry is of major importance among all other mining activities executed by any country.

Special Feature

Indian Steel Industry - Challenges and the Tasks Ahead
Finished steel (non alloy) consumption in India grew at a CAGR of over 11% between 2001-02 and 2007-08. In the subsequent four years, the growth rate has fallen to 7.4%. Growth in the current year of 2012-13 is even slower (3.7% up to November, 2012). The industry is facing several problems like slow growth in demand, raw material availability, land, energy and environmental issues etc.

FACE TO FACE

"Our objectivity encircles the domain of Overall Profitability"
Increasing capacity in steel and power generation business is on the cards which will in turn make JSPL standing on a strong ground. Moreover, making sufficient effective planning and observations, the company is ready to take-off on a speedy front at the road ahead, says Ravi Uppal, Managing Director & CEO, Jindal Steel & Power discussing JSPL’s overall working propositions with Santosh Mahanti, Editor, Iron & Steel Review Magazine.

NATIONAL TRENDS

Production and Productivity Committee Meeting of SAIL held in Bhilai Steel Plant
The 55th Joint Meeting of Production and Productivity Committee of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) was held at Bhilai on January 21, 2013.

New Pollution Control System at ISP, Burnpur
IISCO Steel Plant Chief Executive Officer Narendra Kothari, put into operation the Land Based Pushing Emission Control System at the upcoming Coke Oven Battery No.11 being made ready as part of the state-of-the-art modern steel plant at Burnpur.

Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. inaugurates a facility at Jamshedpur
Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL), a global fluid management company inaugurated its third Authorised Refurbishment Centre (ARC) in India at Adityapur Industrial Area, Jamshedpur.
New End-Forging Plant of SAIL, at Rail Mill, Bhilai inaugurated
Chairman SAIL C.S. Verma inaugurated the new End- Forging Plant installed in Bhilai Steel Plant’s Rail & Structural Mill for forging of thick web asymmetric rails on 21st January, 2013.

GLOBAL TRENDS

• Dongil Industries orders tworoll straightener

  Dongil Industries from Pohang, Korea, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, to replace an existing straightener with a WRP 40 BF two-roll straightener.

• POSCO unveils strategy for future growth

  In response to growing worries in the global steel industry, POSCO unveiled its strategy for future growth at the beginning of 2012.

• BlueScope to enhance business

  Australian-based BlueScope Lysaght Indonesia decides to enhance its business by constructing 10 more industrial units in Indonesia between now and 2016.

• Outotec to deliver gas cleaning plant for LKAB in Sweden

  Outotec has agreed with Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) on the design and turnkey delivery of a gas cleaning plant to LKAB’s iron ore pellet plant in Malmberget, Sweden. The order value is approximately EUR 38 million and it has been booked in Outotec’s order intake in the fourth quarter of 2012.

• FLSmidth wins coal project in Mozambique

  FLSmidth has won a contract worth approximately USD 112m (DKK 658m) from Vale, its long-term Brazilian customer, to supply Material Handling and Mineral Processing equipment for Vale’s Moatize coal mine in the Tete Province of Mozambique.

• New bucket-charging system automates scrap feed in electric steel plants

  A scrap charging system recently developed by Siemens has been used successfully in Riva SAM’s electric steel plant in Neuves Maisons, France, since June 2012.

• Jiangsu Shenyuan orders wire rod outlet for special steel mill

  The Chinese company Jiangsu Shenyuan Special Steel from Shenyuan, Jiangsu Province, has awarded an order to SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of the wire rod outlet of a special steel rolling mill.

• 2012 Global Crude Steel output cent in 2011. increases by 1.2 per cent

  According to World Steel Association (worldsteel) most recent production report, global crude steel production reached 1,548 megatonnes (Mt) for the year 2012, an increase of 1.2 per cent compared to 2011. This is a record for global crude steel production.

• Vietnam Steel Corp. to finish two construction projects this year

  Vietnam Steel Corporation is speeding up construction of two plants in the country, despite drooping demand in 2012.

• Outotec : Offering Renewable Energy Solution for Bio-Ethanol Facility in US

  Outotec has agreed with a major cellulosic ethanol producer on the design and delivery of a renewable energy solution for a bio-ethanol facility in Iowa, U.S.A.

FOCUS

Hope floats for JSW Steel
JSW Steel paved the way ahead only seeing series of confrontations in the December quarter followed by decrease in steel demand while realisations impacting its standalone performance. Margins on sequential basis were hit and bottomline handled exceptional items including foreign exchange losses.

Long products set for a price rise
It is observed that there are two-fold reasons behind this expansion in prices in steel long products which is mainly used in the work of construction; First, the demand scenario has improved along with that there has been a revitalisation of activity in construction.

Hope floats for JSW Steel
JSW Steel paved the way ahead only seeing series of confrontations in the December quarter followed by decrease in steel demand while realisations impacting its standalone performance. Margins on sequential basis were hit and bottomline handled exceptional items including foreign exchange losses.

COMPANY NEWS

Metallurgical Plants
This contributed to an increased order intake in our Metallurgical Plants Division in 2011 compared to the previous year. Especially when it comes to steelmaking plants, we attracted a large number of mostly smaller projects, above all for revamping and extending converters. There was a focus here on quality improvements of the products manufactured on our plants.

MARKET & PRODUCT

Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Pioneer in 3-roll PSM® technology
The development of the 3-roll block with hydraulic gap adjustment by SMS Meer was a milestone in SBQ production: The 3-roll PSM® (Precision Sizing Mill) significantly improves tolerances and efficiency while allowing for reliable, easy and fully automated control. The first company worldwide to choose the new technology was the German special steel manufacturer Deutsche Edelstahlwerke in Siegen, Germany.

Konecranes launches TRUCONNECT® for LIFT TRUCKS
TRUCONNECT® Remote Monitoring and Reporting allows lift truck operators to track the real usage of their lift trucks through a remote connection. This new service proves Konecranes’ commitment to offering its customers greater value with new services and remote connectivity.

Hot dip galvanising line for latest high-strength steel
The fully automatic entry and exit sections provide the feedstock for the annealing and galvanising process, which includes an option for additional galvannealing of a wide range of products (CQ, DQ, EDDQ, BH, AHSS, MP).

STEEL TECHNOLOGY

Startup of the VSB Meltshop: The first Consteel-EAF in Brazil
Vallourec & Sumitomo Tubos do Brasil has recently installed the EAF-Consteel in its new plant of Jeceaba, Minas Gerais. This equipment has a 140 metric tonnes ladle capacity and has been designed to produce one million tonnes per year of liquid steel. The EAF-Consteel had to be designed for a very flexible mix of metallic raw materials, including hot metal, pig iron and scrap in various percentages. This fact has increased the level of complexity of the project in terms of layout and operational process. This paper relates about the design and engineering solutions adopted for the case and the team-building achievements, all ingredients for the successful result of this project.

STEEL MARKET

Investment Opportunity in Setting up 0.6 mtpy Pellet Plant
With the increase in steel output on one side and scarcity of lump ore and high-grade iron ore on the other side, there has been a considerable increase in demand for iron ore pellets in India. The consumption of pellets presently stands at about 30 mtpy which is expected to be about 90 mtpy by 2020. There exists a very good investment opportunity in setting up iron ore pellet plant even after discounting the fact that number of such plants are already under implementation or are under advanced stage of planning. This paper briefly presents a techno-economic feasibility note on setting up 0.6 mtpy iron ore pellet plant based on Grate-Kiln technology. The paper describes salient features of the plant including demand-supply scenario, technology evaluation, production facilities, power & utility requirement, manpower, schedule of implementation, manufacturing cost, investment and financial viability.

IRON & STEELMAKING

Adhering Behaviour of Raw Material Fines on Granulation during Iron Ore Sintering
Optimisation of moisture required for granulation is the key to achieve good green bed permeability, and hence sinter quality. Moisture requirement varies with raw material fines used in a typical base mix, and also differs with their adhering behaviour. To understand the adhering behaviour of different types of fines, granulation studies on binary mixtures containing iron ore and other fines were carried out. Bed voidage was calculated by Ergun's equation using measured flow rate of air through the bed.

Gas cleaning system design for enviromental friendly ironmaking
The dust removal efficiency of any separator is dependent on the particle size distribution, on the separation mechanism (i.e. gravitational or centrifugal force) and, to a lesser degree, on the inlet dust loading.

REFRACTORY

"TRL Krosaki is the Market Leader in India"
In the present market field, TRL Krosaki stands strong as the market leader. Though, the related market strata are witnessing a downhill, with its technological and innovative upgradation, TRL Krosaki is pacing ahead - says Dr. A.K. Chattopadhyay, Managing Director, TRL Krosaki Refractories Limited. Additionally, he discusses about the company's business norms, investment planning and upcoming strategies with Santosh Mahanti, Editor, Iron & Steel Review Magazine.

CASTING TECHNOLOGY

Technological upgrade of slab casting plants: Danieli experience for plant renovation and performance improvement
In recent years, developments in slab casting technology have introduced several significant improvements, both in mechanical design and in the applicable process technology. This development has allowed recently installed casters to operate with performances remarkably better than casters installed in the past.

Productivity Enhancement in Foundry Industry using Lean Tools
The main objective of this paper is to implement lean philosophy in foundry with a spotlight on increasing productivity. Here, the purpose is to develop kaizens to eliminate waste in the foundry. In this case study, the industry could not meet the customer requirements due to the increasing cycle time of the individual process and rework due to excess rejection. Processing time is more in coremaking, mouldmaking and finishing section of the foundry. Time study and motion study has been conducted and the respective operation idle time and busy time have been taken. This paper describes some of the quality improvement tasks that reduce the rejection rate which also affect the productivity. Improvements have been given by charting fish-bone diagram. The improvement of work process was executed by eliminating and combining of work process, which reduces production time, number of process and space utilisation. The results of process are analysed by conducting time study after implementation with cost benefit analysis to show the financial benefits.

ROLLING / STRIP PROCESSING

Cold Strip Processing Lines for the Production of Automotive Grades
To meet today’s constantly increasing demands on steel strip, a large number of innovative steel grades have been developed. SMS Siemag offers different line types for the production of modern automotive steel-grades such as the hot-dip galvanising line, the combined galvanising and annealing line, the continuous annealing line or the continuous annealing line with water-spray cooling section.

SPECIAL & STAINLESS STEEL

Nb Stabilised Ferritic Stainless Steels for Automotive Exhaust Systems
The use of stainless steel in automotive component development in India has increased dramatically during the last decade by virtue of its excellent corrosion resistance, heat resistance and good appearance. The average passenger car uses about 15 to 22 kgs of stainless steel. The use of stainless steels in automobiles began with interior and exterior decorative trim which is a well established growth area till date. Stainless steel is also increasingly used in parts such as hose clamps, head gaskets, pump bodies, heat shields, windscreen wipers and seatbelt springs taking advantage of the good appearance and corrosion resistance of the material. Its use for functional components such as exhaust system has increased remarkably, accounting now for more than a half of all the stainless steel used within an automobile.

MATERIAL HANDLING

Material Handling & Transportation : Growth on the Move
Material handling and transportation acts as an integral part relating to several industrial activities. Along with a growing business pattern, a greater emphasis is laid on productivity movement, effectiveness and resource conservation. The process plays a decisive role in sustaining efficiency in economic as well as individual resources.

CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

indometal 2013: New technologies to fuel growth potential in Indonesia and the region
The inaugural indometal 2013 will field a host of international exhibitors from 22 countries, with national groups and pavilions from Austria, China, India, Italy, Taiwan and the UK, as well as major players from Germany, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.