The Hindu reported that Steel Authority of India Limited has decided to shift focus to increase share of value added products and not only on capacity addition in its INR 70,000 crore program as it plans to increase the share of value added products from 39% to around 55% in the next two years.
Mr CS Verma chairman of SAIL told The Hindu that “We have planned INR 70,000 crore expansion and modernization program which will be completed by 2013. Value added products constituted 39% of our total salable steel production in 2010-11, a marginal increase over two years ago. On completion of the current phase of modernization, the share of value added products is likely to increase to around 50% to 55% of our total production.”
Mr Verma said that “Due to addition of new capacities in steel making it has become increasingly important that we grow our share of value added products as selling only commodity products is not going to help in top line growth.”
Mr Verma said “The new cold rolling complex coming up at Bokaro Steel Plant would boost the share of value added products which would target the auto and white goods sectors. It is the latest state of the art mill capable of producing auto grade products. The capacity of the mill is around one million tonnes of CR and 3.5 million tonnes of galvanized products. SAIL has earmarked a CAPEX of INR 12,630 crore for 2011-12.”
Further, he said, SAIL is developing product suitable for hot stamping technology which is being introduced by auto companies to get low carbon high strength material.
The company is manufacturing value added steel at its five integrated steel plants in addition to the three special steel plants Alloy Steel Plant, Salem Steel Plant and VISL.
The ASP at Durgapur is specially designed for casting special steels such as austenitic/ferritic stainless steel and a variety of non-stainless steels, including “bullet proof” steel. The plant has a diverse portfolio of over 400 grades of alloy and special steels to cater to the requirements of niche segments such as defense, nuclear power, aerospace, railways and automobiles.
The SAIL Chairman said the Salem plant produced a wide range of cold rolled and hot rolled stainless steel. The plant's products are available in austenitic, martensitic and ferritic grades in various finishes. VISL is able to produce over 700 grades of quality alloy and special steels to the defense and automobile segments besides heavy engineering and railways.
Mr Verma said for the defense sector, SAIL was manufacturing value added steel in DMR (249A grade steel) for war ships, SAIL Kavach, jackal grade for bullet proof vehicles and jackets and SAIL Rath for Bofors guns. These special products and grades have helped SAIL establish itself as a world class company for various high-end usages. He added that “SAIL's presence in certain segments such as auto, white goods and oil and gas, will get a substantial boost after completion of its current phase of modernization.”
He said the Indian steel market was experiencing change in the pattern of consumption of steel. Sectors such as auto, oil and gas, power are growing fast and even in the coming years likely to register annual average growth in the range of 12 to 15%. The demand for products such as auto grade CR&HR, API pipes, CRGO, CRNO, alloy steel long products and stainless pipes is likely to grow. At present, the country is dependent on imports for most of these products.
(Sourced from www.thehindu.com)
