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IRON & STEEL REVIEW

December 2008

US$25 million investment expected in Indian mining sector

Siemens on a steady growth path : Double digit increase in the base business
For the financial year ended September 30, 2008, Sales Turnover of Siemens Ltd. rose to Rs. 82,955 million (Rs. 8,296 crore), an increase of 7% over he previous financial year. Net Profit After Tax remained steady at Rs. 5,933 million (Rs. 593 crore ) mainly due to additional cost impacts in certain large projects. However, the base business of the Company grew exceptionally well. On a comparable basis, Sales rose by 21%, Orders increased by 27% and profit from operations rose by 68% during the current fiscal.

SAIL to start steel processing unit at Lakhimpur Kheri
Steel Authority of India is all set to install steel processing unit at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh to make steel available in various sizes to large number of local consumers as per their requirements. According to the media reports, the effort of SAIL to set up the SPU in addition to the other SPUs in different states, where there is no integrated steel production facility, is to bring about an overall development and growth of the region.

COMPANY NEWS
SMPL : Largest Secondary Steel Producer In India
Sujana Metal Products Limited (SMPL) has galloped to the enviable position as one of the largest secondary steel companies in the country. SMPL, a part of well-diversified Rs 3,000 crore worth Sujana Group of Companies, is known for its trend-setting TMT and structural steel products. SMPL has uniquely positioned itself as the only company in the country to have a widest range of long steel products within a span of two decades.

Cognex appoints Thomas F. Nash as President of its Surface Inspection Systems Division
Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the world’s leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced the appointment of Tom Nash to the position of President of the Surface Inspection Systems Division (SISD). Mr. Nash reports to Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Chairman and CEO of Cognex.

ZKL Bearings : Cost-optimization, convenience makes it a preferred brand
Change is certain. From the very inception of humanity, change has been consistent. “Change” applies to everyone from civilizations to empires. Those who have changed with time have reaped the benefits and achieved success, the remaining have fallen to the test of time. It is our belief to change with time and provide solution to customer’s problems and enhance value, which is the requirement of the day so that our customer can create greater value with their products.

VIEWPOINT
Inspite of Global meltdown SAIL continues its expansion
Due to meltdown in Indian economy and its aftereffects leading to higher input costs and credit access virtually getting out of hands of large corporate’s of turnover of over Rs5,000 crore have brought 68% of CEO’s a complete restlessness in fulfilling their commitments in last 9 to 10 months. Only a minor lot of 32% of CEO of domestic business with the given turnover bracket succeed in countering their resistivity and fatigue in a bid to achieve their yearly targets in the context of current severe business constrains, says an ASSOCHAM survey.

CONTINOUS CASTING
Solutions for Best Performance
Siemens VAI is the No. 1 supplier of slab casters and an important supplier of long-product casters in China. Longterm customer relationships and repeat business activities characterise the overall relationship between Chinese steel producers and Siemens VAI. High performance machines incorporating the latest equipment design and technological packages have been decisive for China’s leading position today in terms of caster performance and product quality.

COLD ROLLING
Setting SAIL for Better Steel
Bokaro Steel (BSL), a unit of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), is one of the country’s largest producers of cold rolled products. Recently, BSL decided to enlarge its production and product ranges by investing in a new CRM complex in the state of Jharkand capable of producing 1.3 million tpy. The new CRM will furnish a wide range of high-end CR products for the automotive body and household appliance industries.

FLAT PRODUCTS
Development of on-line lamb wave testing technique Using Real-time Digital signal processing
A lamb wave testing technique has been used for on-line defect inspection of steel strips. The conventional lamb wave testing, generally, has the following two large problems: one is the wide dead zone of the strip edges, another is misdetections by electrical noise. The new testing method was developed to solve the above two problems and is explained in this paper. The new testing system collects received signals and changes them into two-dimensional signals. It can distinguish the defect signals from the other signals by the two-dimensional signal characteristics and by means of using if-then rule logic. As this new method does not need an inspection gate, it can reduce the dead zone and the detection which made a mistake caused by the electrical noise. The measurement principle, the algorithm of the signal processing and the distinction logic are described in this paper. The laboratory testing leads the results that the new method can reduce the dead zone of the strip edge from 200mm to 75mm.

COMPANY PROFILE
Vatron knows no problems, just solutions
Vatron has been racking its brains with regard to the industry’s headaches for the past ten years. Indeed, as a supplier of mechatronics solutions, the Linz problemsolvers positively invite people to confront them with their technical quandaries.

Ennore Coke riding the tide, finding new opportunities & business horizons
Ennore Coke Ltd (ECL), promoted by the Sriram Group of Companies, was incorporated as a public limited company in the name of Khatoo Finance and Trading Company Limited, in 1985. Renamed as Khatoo Synthetics Limited in November 1986 the name was subsequently changed to Ennore Coke and Power Ltd (EPCL), in January 2006 in tune with its core activities. The company was rechristened to Ennore Coke Limited (ECL), in June 2006. The company expanded by including waste heat power plant from the waste heat from the remains of the coke ovens.

FOCUS
Mining industry’s contribution to Indian economy
The metallurgical and mineral industries constitute the bedrock of industrial development as they provide the basic raw materials for most of the industries. Increasing industrial production and growth of manufacturing sector has brought the mining sector in the limelight. The mining and quarrying sector contributed 2.7 % to the country’s gross domestic product in FY20071. The production has grown at CAGR of 3.86% between FY2000 to FY2008 in comparison to overall industrial production of India during the same period as depicted by the production indices compiled by Central Statistical Organization (CSO) in the chart below.

Steel Market Prospects
In the recent period the dynamics of steel market have engaged the attention of policy planners more than ever. For the last one and half decade there is a perceptible shift of economic growth from the developed to the developing countries, particularly to the countries in Asian region. As steel industry plays a crucial role in the industrial and economic development of the country, it is no wonder that a vibrant and robust steel industry has already taken shape in not only some of the developing countries but in the emerging economies as well.

Key mineral scenario in India
In Financial Year (FY) 2007-08, the total coal production in India was approximately 456 Million Tonnes (Mt) against the demand of about 500 Mt mainly coming from the core sectors of power, steel and cement. In spite of various policy initiatives to diversify the fuel mix, it is becoming increasingly evident that coal would continue to play a major role in sustaining the India’s growth momentum. Coal India Ltd. (CIL) with its 8 subsidiaries continues to be the largest producer of coal producing more than 80% of the coal in the country. The Singareni Coal Company Limited (SCCL) and captive coal blocks allocated so far are supplementing the supplies from CIL. The demand – supply deficit of over 40 Mt is met by imports. This composition of coal supply with CIL’s dominance is expected to continue with captive blocks gradually attaining increasing share.

Posco-India’s project: a litmus test for investment & free trade in India
Posco, the Korean steel giant and the world’s fourth biggest producer shifting its focus from other parts of the world to India for its giant investment has gathered immense attention. How could a company like Posco, a world class steel producer with most efficient operating margins think of investing in India and particularly Orissa?

Global steel on the way to expansion, Asia leads with consistent growth prospects
The global steel industry is passing through a very rough phase with financial meltdown in the American and other European nations affecting very seriously both the industrial and investment sector. Still in the middle of this grave situation, experts are optimistic about the expansion of the global steel to increase by two billion tonnes by 2015. Asia is expected to lead with 8% growth pa, following is the CIS (+3%), the EU-25 (+1%) and North America (+0.5%), where growth will be much lower.

SAIL’S Coking Coal Requirements
Indian Steel Industry
• 5th largest steel producing nation in the world.
• Apparent consumption of finished steel (alloy & non-alloy) in FY 07-08 – 51.5 million tone, growth of 10.% over FY 06-07.
• Per capita steel consumption in 2006 : approx. 50 kg
• Finished steel exports in 2007-08 : 5.05 million tone
• Imports at 6.9 million tone in FY 07-08.

Strategic Environmental Performance Measurement towards Sustainable Steel Works: A Case of POSCO in Korea
In line with growing importance of environmental management in business circles, the implementation of a system for measuring and evaluating corporate environmental performance becomes one of key agenda both for internal management purposes and for external relations with a wide range of stakeholders. To deal with this subject, academia, practitioners and many international organizations like UNEP, OECD, ISO, GRI, WBCSD have elaborated appropriate schemes and indicators, mainly focused on ecoefficiency, to implement environmental performance evaluation(thereafter, EPE). Among them, ISO 14031 standard, which published in the end of 1999 and the subsequent document ISO/TR 14032 incorporating seventeen industrial cases from different countries, was highly helpful to schemes and indicators for EPE.

INDIAN STEEL INDUSTRY
Indian Steel: bleak prospects
The global financial crises and the global stock market crash has also very much affected the Indian stock markets and the country’s economy adversely. The BSE sensex has declined by 33.91 per cent from 14809.49 points on March 17,2008 to a low of 9788.06 points on 31st October 2008. India’s GDP growth has been projected to grow by 7 to 7.5 percent in 2008-09 as against 9.0 percent in the previous year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that world economic growth is likely to slow down to 3.37 percent in 2008 while India’s economy will grow by 7.8 percent. India’s manufacturing growth for April to September 2008 period has declined to 4.9 percent against a growth of 9.5 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. The industrial analysists feel that there is a persisting slow down which should prompt the government to come out with measures that are specific to industries.

INTERVIEW
New initiatives aided record production
SAIL News : RMD ended fiscal 2007-08 with record production once again. To what would you attribute this achievement?
Director (Personnel) : I would attribute the achievement to the dedicated and concerted efforts of the entire RMD collective working with a new, multi-directional approach. The RMD collective deserves a special mention as their working conditions are quite different from that of the steel plants. The remoteness of the mines, poor connectivity, hilly terrain, fluctuating weather, and working under open sky make their task more challenging.

Fully geared up Ennore Coke is aware of the opportunity lying ahead
“We don’t expect the present slow down to last for long. When the roots of financial sector shake for a while the demand dwindles for a while due to sudden lack of support. However, the Central Government on its part has taken various punitive measures to spruce up the demand and ensure free flow of funds and in the long run, this should pep up the economy ably providing the required boost. It is also a reality that India and China would withstand this phase effectively on their own strong fundamentals,” said Ganeshan Natarajan, President & CEO of Ennore Coke in a one-to-one interview with Iron & Steel Review at his Kolkata office recently.

Eclipse Combustion to grow substantially with increasing primary & secondary steel capacity in India
We are a truly multinational company having manufacturing facilities at strategic locations around the world. We serve the global markets through global supply chain, mentioned a confident VM Deshmukh, MD while talking to IRON & STEEL REVIEW in a recent meeting with the Editorial team.

IRON MAKING
The usage of Coral REEF limestone in iron ore sintering process
Limestone is the most important flux and slag forming material for the ironmaking process. Several kinds of limestones, such as re-crystallized marble, sedimentary limestone and coral reef, have been used for targeting the sinter basicity. Because of the different granulation behaviors of limestones, which affects the sintering performance, a proper choice of limestone type with the iron ore blend is a key point to promote the sintering operation. This paper is aimed at understanding the chemical characteristics, crushing features, granulation behaviour, and assimilation properties of coral reef limestone to evaluate its performance in the iron ore sintering process. Study results showed coral reef limestone had higher purity (97.0- 99.0% CaCO3), higher porosity, and higher assimilation properties than marble (with 92-95% CaCO3).

FLAT PRODUCTS
Overview of the new finishing block mill and coil handling line at the no.7 Wire rod mill
The No.7 Wire Rod Mill has been operating as the main plant for the production of Kobe Steel high-grade wire rod since its startup of operation in 1969. In order to satisfy the increasingly strict customers’ demands and to take the lead in the progress of the modernization of wire rod mills, an advanced finishing block mill and coil handling lines at the No.7 Wire Rod mill were commissioned in January 1999. This modernization includes an 8-stand ultra heavyduty block mill, a 4-stand ultra heavy-duty reducing sizing mill, a laying head, loop conveyor, a loop collector, and an automated warehouse. The mill is capable of controlled rolling, precision tolerance rolling, intermediate product size rolling, controlled cooling, and optimized coil handling. As a result, a production system, the most advanced in the world was prepared and remarkable improvements in product quality and in customer service became possible. In addition, it also became possible to produce new products at reduced total costs including secondary and tertiary processing costs.

PRODUCT & MARKET
Bonfiglioli opens new subsidiary in Brazil
As part of our international development strategy, Bonfiglioli Riduttori has increased its presence in South America by setting up BONFIGLIOLI DO BRASIL. Established in October 2008, the new subsidiary has grown out of a privileged relationship with our Brazilian distributor. Now that distributor has joined us to form a new company for the purpose of maximising sales and achieving greater penetration into Brazil’s large market for power transmission and motion control.

RAW MATERIAL
Focus on raw materials for Indian steel industry
The basic raw material required for iron making ore iron ore, coke and fluxing materials, dolomite and limestone. Iron ore is used to make pig iron and Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) which are also used as raw material.

A layman’s guide to the Midrex and Kobe Steel Rotary Hearth Furnace Technologies
This article is the first in a series on rotary hearth furnace (RHF) technologies available from Midrex and Kobe Steel. These article will examine how the various RHF-based technologies fit each particular situation and application. This first article in the RHF series takes a quick look at the commercially-proven FASTMET® Process, the FASTMELT® Process and the break-through ITmk3® Process. In further issues, each technology will be featured individually in greater detail.

REFRACTORY
New horizon in refractories development and applications
This contribution is about the technological evolution to be expected in the refractories industry, to the horizon 2017. New trends in the steel and few other industries are evoked to predict the extent of the demand by then. The developments about black refractories and unshaped refractories are mentioned and put into perspective with some of the other short term and long term technical developments to occur in the refractory industry. The need for IRMA to care for the education of refractory engineers in India is underlined.

Latest development and application of refractories for flow control of molten steel
Refractories for flow control have been used for passing route of refined molten steel from a ladle to a casting mould through a tundish. Apart from their ordinary function of merely ensuring the flow route of he molten steel, they have an important role on determining the propterties of the steel products through controlling the rate of flow in the molten state, with straightening its stream, sealing against oxidation from open air and eliminating the chance of an inclusion involving. The recent progress of the refractories for flow control has been reviewed from both aspects of structure developments to intensify their function and material development to increase their durability.

SPECIAL FEATURE
Downtrend In Global Economy And Steel Growth
The global stock markets faced a severe downturn during the April – September 2008 period and there are no signs of a healthy upturn in the near future. According to World Steel Dynamics (WSD), the precipitous decline in the global stock markets has adversely affected confidence in many countries. Between April and September 2008, the stock markets all over the world has collapsed. The drops were: Russia – 42%, Brazil – 39%, Egypt – 37%, China – 36%, Malaysia – 29%, Thailand – 28%, Argentina – 25%, Indonesia – 25%, Mexico – 22%, Hong Kong – 22%, Milan – 22%, London FISE – 15%, Germany – 14%, Canada – 13%, South Africa – 14%, Dow Jones (USA) – 14%, Japan – 10% and India by 34% (between March, 17 and October, 31 of 2008).

STEEL INTERNATIONAL
Five long product caster in addition to seven billet caster starts within five weeks
The first seven-strand billet caster supplied by Siemens VAI was started up at the Ukrainian steel producer Dneprovsky Iron and Steel Integrated Works (DMKD). Also, within only five weeks four additional long-product casters were started up during the third quarter of 2008 in China, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

STEEL MARKET
High Corrosion-Resistant Steel Sheets - Market Trends and Business Strategies of Steel Mills
Corrosion resistance is one of the main concerns of such steel-consuming sectors as the construction and automotive industries. So far, galvanized steel sheets have mostly been considered as durable materials in severe environments. However, as the criteria for anti-corrosion materials have become more critical, zinc-aluminum alloyed coated steel sheets such as Zn-55%Al have begun rapidly replacing conventional products owing to the advantage of corrosion resistance in the field of construction materials. Most zincaluminum-magnesium alloyed products currently being developed are also expanding the range of the market.

Steel price correction in EU underway, global stainless steel output to slip
In Germany, the higher values that producers tried to enforce for September deliveries of some strip mill products were only accepted by a limited number of customers. Service centres have enough steel to cover current demand, which has weakened in several market sectors. There is now more ex-stock material available from the EU mills. Some quantities of Indian and Chinese imports have been ordered and should arrive in time for the final trimester. Negotiations with local suppliers for period four shipments are due to start later this month.

Global steel prices expected to peak through Q1FY2009
Transaction values in the long products sector are likely to rise in the final quarter of this year as markets recover from the seasonal lull. We envisage escalating energy and freight costs pushing steel prices higher. However, a softening in scrap values is possible in the short term. This should limit the size of the increases in transaction figures. Export opportunities are expected to remain strong. Low levels of inventories are unlikely to be sufficient to feed any upturn in demand in the next trimester. Consequently, supply shortages could fuel the upward price movement.

STEEL TECHNOLOGY
Influence of chemistry on performance of grey cast iron moulds used for steel teeming
Ingot moulds are required to withstand severe thermal cycling of heating and cooling while suffering as little change as possible in strength, structure, surface and dimensions. The desirable properties of the ingot moulds include resistance to thermal shock, growth & oxidation, high thermal conductivity & low thermal expansion for quick heat dissipation coupled with minimum dimensional change & stress build up, uniform structure for minimizing stress variation in the mould and sufficient strength & ductility for eliminating cracking combined with withstanding mechanical handling (ref.1, 2). Many of the aforesaid requirements are conferred by Grey Cast Iron, which has been accepted as a traditional material of choice for ingot moulds.

Experimental simulators for the development of new steel grades
Efficient product and process development is only possible with state-of-the-art equipment, with which industrial process steps can be simulated. One possibility is to invest in complete pilot lines, which are smaller scale reproductions of the industrial processes.

New cooling concept proves its reliability at ThyssenKrupp's
The success of new materials such as aluminum or magnesium is accompanied by an increase in the requirements that are placed on the classical material, steel. It is not only the automotive companies that expect to gain an advantage from thinner but still very strong types of steel sheeting which makes their vehicles more efficient and more environmentally compatible; other sectors of industry can also profit from strength-relevant load-bearing structures and energyabsorbing components made of dual-phase, multiphase or highstrength steels such as TWIP (twinning induced plasticity) and TRIP (transformation induced plasticity) steel. In addition to the alloying elements, the cooling section is decisive for the properties of these steels. Precise and highly flexible control of the cooling process in the cooling section is therefore extremely important.

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