ISR INFOMEDIA LIMITED - Publishing industrial magazines like iron & steel, metals, minerals, casting

HOME		CONTACTS		SEARCH

TO MANAGE YOUR TOMORROW ... READ TODAY

IRON & STEEL REVIEW

January 2009

Margins & bottom lines: a tough rope walk for Indian steel

Tata Steel records a 14% fall in Q3 sales
Tata steel the world’s sixth largest steel maker, completed its Q3 of FY09, recording a 14% decline in the sales to 1.07mt. The decline in the overall sales was against 27% growth in sales of long products at 0.48mt. To which industry sources pointed out that, the decline in the Q3 sales was the reflection of the global economic slump, which has resulted in the fall of demand for flat products world wide, primarily used by the automobile and the white goods sector, thereby affecting the sales.

ABB successfully tests ultrahigh-voltage transformer, key for power super highways New transformer to be used on world’s longest power transmission link in China
ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has successfully tested a new type of transformer that is a key component of power superhighways, or power links that can deliver vast amounts of electricity over very long distances.

VIEWPOINT
Margins & bottom lines: a tough rope walk for Indian steel
Those who speculate and those who hedge actually control the dynamics of the market and steel business is no exception to this generalised theory. Steel markets have continuously shown favourable environment for investment with good returns for the last 6 years since the last turn around in 2002. The main reason behind Indian steel business going completely haywire these days resulting in a great amount of displeasure among the market operators is the fact that there are no takers basically from whatever angle of the business perspective one would try to look at, be it the suppliers, manufacturers or traders – the main components of the business.

COATING
Operating success of insoluble anodes for tinplate
Conventional electrolytic tinning lines using soluble tin anodes have high maintenance requirements not only to replace consumed anodes but also because the electrolyte has to be periodically drained, and diluted as tin dissolves from the anode faster than it is plated onto the strip. Tenova has developed a new low-sludge tin plating process using insoluble anodes and a tin dissolution plant linked to the electrolyte circulation circuit to replenish the plated out tin.

COLD ROLLING
Automation for 2-stand reversing cold mills
According to current forecasts, worldwide demand for steel is set to grow 25% by the year 2015. In the last years, the steel market has become increasingly demanding in terms of quality and throughput capabilities of the equipment and especially rolling mills. The focus is very often put on tandem mills when high throughput is concerned. But most of the steel producers use reversing mills for productions in a range of 200 to 600 kilotons for single stand mils and 300 to 1,000 kilotons for 2-stand mills, or a wide range of mixed products.

STEEL MAKING & CASTING
Implementation of an online process model for the control of an EAF in a production environment
HATCH developed a fundamental EAF process model that has been described elsewhere [6, 7] and is currently being commissioned on a steel plant in South Africa. This Process Control Model consists of a set of fundamental process models, each describing the actual mechanisms at work in the different melting and refining processes. This makes the basic model assumptions independent of plant operating practices.

COMPANY NEWS
Nord Gear carrying forward the legacy with élan
Established in the year 1965, Nord gear one of the world’s leading producers of drive technology, has emerged as an excellent producer for electronic and mechanical solutions. Proving its mettle in the field of mechatronics, covering manufacturing of mechanical, electrical and electronic industrial drive components and sub-assemblies, it has come a long way setting milestone in this field.

Wireless Stacker Reclaimer, a major breakthrough in transmitting signals
Stacker reclaimers are the most significant equipments found commonly in the steel, cement, power industries where a bulk movement and storage is required. The task of the stacker is to receive materials from other stockyard equipment via a conveyor network and deposit it in a bunker or pile. On the other hand reclaimers, remove the same material and deliver it to the other stockyard equipment via a conveyor network.

FOCUS
An overview on manganese ore industry in India
Manganese introduced in the form of ferro-manganese, silico-manganese and manganese metal for steel making accounts for a mammoth 41% of the global ferroalloys production. It is one of the most important raw materials for steel making imparting specific properties such as sulfur fixing which avoid hot shortness, deoxidation ability, improving strength & toughness by lowering austenite decomposition temperature during cooling to result in ferrite grain refinement, increased work hardening rate, high hardenability, retarding austenite transformation to promote deep hardening and stabilizing austenitic phase in steels. Considering the relatively low price and outstanding technical benefits, manganese alloys find no suitable substitute in steel making processes. Since 90% of total manganese produced is consumed in steel making, the fortunes of the manganese alloy industry is inextricably linked with that of the steel.

Capacity Augmentation in the Steel Sector
The Indian steel industry, has bounced back in recent years, on the back of strong domestic demand from a rather distressed state in 2002-03. The robust performance is clearly indicated by the year-on-year double-digit domestic consumption growth of 14 percent in 2006-07. In 2006, India was ranked among the top 5 steel producing country in the world.

Secondary Steel Producers – Problems & Prospects
In the present scenario of Industrial Growth of the country where the Steel Sector has a prominent role to play the major issues concerning secondary steel sector, especially SMEs and mid corporate enterprises need serous consideration. These small players in the Steel Sector were operating even long before the large players came into existence in the country. Over the years their number has multiplied manifold, activities diversified and today they occupy a significant position in steel production contributing more then 60% of the total steel production of the country, 91% of total finished alloy steel production, 64% if total flat non-alloy steel and 63% of non flat non-alloy steel.

RAW MATERIAL
Surface Hardening of Medium Carbon Steels by Aluminization
Solid state surface aluminization of a medium carbon steel for roll applications is investigated. The processing temperatures range between 500°C and 700°C, and the diffusion time varies from 2 to 6 hours. The structures, phases, and mechanical properties of the coating layers are studied. The thickness of the coating layers are formed in the range of 20~90um. The activation energy for growth of coating layer is approximately 30.1 KJ/mole. The coating layer consists of two major phases. The Fe2Al5 phase is formed on the surface, while a solid solution with Fe3Al structure is formed at the interface between surface Fe2Al5 layer and the substrate. The coating’s hardness is as high as Hv826 while keeping the substrate hardness at relatively high level.

REFRACTORY
Influence of process parameters on refractory performance -the way to success at VSP
The introduction of continuous casting of blooms demands increased tapping temperature from BOF. Earlier the steel teeming ladles were merely holding the liquid steel for casting but the evolution of ladle metallurgy necessitated better refractory performance. It is not the slag condition which determines the refractory design and selection but also the secondary process technology, temperature and treatment time. The tundish is the most important area of refractory application in continuous casting process. With introduction of tundish metallurgy the list of process parameters influencing the tundish refractory lining becomes longer and greatly affects its performance. This paper deals with the influencing of selected operational process parameters on the refractory lining, i.e. BOF, steel teeming ladle and the tundish. Also this paper enumerates the process improvement achieved for better refractory lining life and quality of cast steel over a period of a decade.

Blast furnace refractories & cooling system - an integrated approach
Blast Furnace is the established route for iron making. Today existing steel plants are looking for higher blast furnace productivity i.e. above 2, with campaign life of over 25 million tonnes throughput. High furnace productivity has necessitated process intensification through higher blast temperature, high top pressure, oxygen enrichment & coal dust injection. Intensified furnace operation puts severe strain on its lining system. To sustain the modern operating practices and at the same time achieve extended campaign life of furnace, it is necessary to look into refractory & cooling system design as one entity. This paper deals with considerations and trends in blast furnace lining & cooling systems with special reference to up-gradation programme of blast furnaces in SAIL.

SPECIAL FEATURE
Steel Raw Materials: Where are iron ore, scrap & billet headed? And would prices return to previous (normal) levels?
2008 witnessed sharp volatilities in the raw materials market
• Iron ore contract prices rose sharply in 2008 (by 88%) to reach $165/ton fob (DR pellets). The delivery cost was further increased by the soaring freight rates through August, driven by booming global trade and rising fuel costs.

STEEL INTERNATIONAL
SMS Demag to supply world’s largest hydrochloric acid regeneration plant to Thyssenkrupp
SMS Demag Process Technologies in Vienna, Austria, a company of the SMS group, Germany, has been awarded an order to supply the world’s largest hydrochloric acid regeneration plant for the new integrated rolling mill of ThyssenKrupp Steel USA in Calvert, Alabama, USA. Commissioning of the regeneration plant will take place in April 2010.

SMS Demag forms joint venture with IMS Messsysteme
SMS Demag AG, Düsseldorf, and IMS Messsysteme GmbH, Heiligenhaus, have founded a joint venture – SURCON GmbH. The registered office of the company will be Heiligenhaus, Germany.

SMS Demag receives order to supply XCast slab caster for RSP
Rourkela Steel Plant, a company of the SAIL group (Steel Authority of India Limited), has awarded SMS Demag, a company of the SMS group, Germany, a contract for the supply of an XCast ® slab caster for the Rourkela location in the state of Orissa.

STEEL TECHNOLOGY
Turnkey sections in hot strip mills – The real advantage of professional construction management for our customers
Turnkey projects in general are complex and challenging. The successful implementation of the hot strip mill project for ArcelorMittal in Krakow in Poland is an excellent example of Siemens VAI's experience in the turnkey business. Turnkey projects offer opportunities and pose risks in all areas of the world for all parties involved. Experience in the implementation of turnkey projects allows plant builders to identify and control risks.

Best practice – Are mini-mills comparable?
Based on the Badische Stahl-Engineering GmbH steel plant data base the presentation shows the best practice in operations of 25 melt shops around the world. Of course, there is always the question of comparability especially with regard to the raw material used and the steel grades produced. Nevertheless it is mostly assumed that productivity is directly linked to cost savings. But how far can this approach be followed to gain these savings?

Research and Technical Development in Steel Industry - Its Ecological and Economical Contribution
The research and technical development process at JFE Steel Corp. is introduced. JFE Steel is a new company established by the consolidation of 2 major steel companies, NKK Corp. and Kawasaki Steel Corp. in Japan. Three environmental strategies of JFE Steel are “Reducing environmental burden in all business units”, “Providing eco-friendly technologies and products”, “Promoting ecofriendly business units”. Steel Research Laboratory in JFE Steel has been developing advances application technologies for slag products. The following 2 themes on ironmaking and steelmaking slag are introduced.

Hot Work Tool Steels for Hot-forming of Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metals
The significance of tool steels extends far beyond what is generally perceived as commonplace. Nearly all the objects we are surrounded by and encounter on a daily basis are manufactured with the help of tool steels. The application spectrum for hot-work tool steels is extensive and the tools manufactured are used in the most diverse areas.

Read More...

Home

Current Issue

Editorial Planner