Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) Q3 results: Posts net profit of Rs 2,432 crore, revenue increases 40 per cent

 25-Jan-2021

JSPL Q3 results: The consolidated revenue jumped by 40 per cent to Rs 10,534 crore compared to Rs 7,526 crore in Q3 FY20, driven by strong performance in Indian steel as well as power business.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) in the last week reported a consolidated net profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 2,432 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, on the back of improvement in operating and financial leverage. The steel and energy company had posted net loss of Rs 257 crore in December quarter of 2019, JSPL said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The consolidated revenue jumped by 40 per cent to Rs 10,534 crore compared to Rs 7,526 crore in Q3 FY20, driven by strong performance in Indian steel as well as power business.

The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) surged by 170 per cent to Rs 4,252 crore from Rs 1,574 crore in the year ago period. "All operational assets except Australia reported positive EBITDA in Q3 FY21," JSPL said.

"December quarter showed recovery signs for the entire steel industry in India with utilisation levels as well as domestic demand rising month on month. However, steel industry continues to struggle with raw material scarcity amplified by exponential rise in domestic and international iron ore prices," JSPL said in a filing to the BSE.

During October-December quarter, JSPL standalone reported highest-ever steel production volumes (including pig iron) at 1.93 million tonnes (up 20 per cent YoY) and sales of 1.87 million tonnes (up 12 per cent YoY).

As domestic demand continued to recover, JSPL raised its sales within India which was reflected in declining share of exports to 21 per cent versus 38 per cent in Q2 FY21, the company said.

During the quarter under review, pellet production increased 3 per cent YoY. External sales of pellets, however, reduced to 0.40 million tonnes (down 38 per cent YoY) on higher internal consumption as steel volumes continue to ramp up.

"Q3 FY21 also saw JSPL becoming India's first private company to get the "Regular Supplier" status from Indian Railways to supply 60kg 880 grade (90UTS) Rails," it said.

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) today is one of India’s major steel producers with a significant presence in sectors like Mining, Power Generation and Infrastructure. With an annual turnover of over US $2.6 billion, JSPL is a part of the over US $ 15 billion diversified O. P. Jindal Group.

Indian Steelmakers urge PM Narendra Modi to ban iron ore export for six months

30-Dec-2020

Hot-rolled coil prices have increased by 46 percent to Rs 52,000 per tonne in November as compared to Rs 37,400 per tonne in July this year. Rebar TMT, which is used in the housing and construction sectors, had touched Rs 50,000 a tonne, industry sources said.

Indian steelmaker’s body, the Indian Steel Association (ISA) yesterday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, explaining that the metal price hike was due to surging raw material costs, and also requested him to impose a temporary ban on iron ore export till the supply side stabilises for the key raw material.

Indian Steel Association currently represents almost all the major Public and Private Sector steel producers of India and intends to be focal point for steel industry related deliberations in the country and abroad.

The Indian Steel Association (ISA) approached Prime Minister’s Office after Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari wrote a letter to the prime minister on the impact of rising steel prices on infrastructure projects.

"We would like to highlight some of the very serious and compelling reasons which have left the steel industry with no recourse, but to raise prices of steel from time to time," the ISA said in its letter to the PMO.

Hot-rolled coil prices have increased by 46 percent to Rs 52,000 per tonne in November as compared to Rs 37,400 per tonne in July this year. Rebar TMT, which is used in the housing and construction sectors, had touched Rs 50,000 a tonne, industry sources said.

In their letter ISA mentioned about the issues related to iron ore, price rise of raw materials, shortage in global steel supply and lower capacity utilization because of lockdown due to COVID 19.

"Due to a temporary shortage of steel in the wake of the COVID-19 disruptions, the international prices surged to over USD 750 per tonne from the bottom of USD 397 per tonne witnessed this year. As India is an open economy, the steel prices in the country move up with the global prices," ISA secretary general Bhaskar Chatterjee said.

He also mentioned that iron ore price has increased more than double from Rs 1,960 to Rs 4,160 per tonne in the period of June-December 2020.

"With an increase of Rs 1,000 in iron ore prices, the minimum impact is Rs 2,000 per tonne in steelmaking," Chatterjee said.

Iron ore production in the April-October period of 2020 was at 92.08 million tonne, registering sharp degrowth of 30 percent over the same period last year.

On the other hand, iron ore exports had surged by 70.3 percent to 29.2 million tonne in the first half of the current fiscal.

Explaining why the metal price has been raised, the ISA said Indian crude steel production fell by 19 percent in the current financial year.

"Indian steel industry faced severe disruptions in production caused by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, many steel companies in India with sub-optimal operating capacity showed substantial cash losses due to non- absorption of huge fixed costs for the quarter ended June 2020," it added.

(Source: Moneycontrol / PTI, edited)

Chinese steelmaker Jiangsu Shagang to invest $2.25 billion for modernising steel mills in Henan province | Steel Industry News

13-Dec-2020

Chinese biggest private sector steel producer, Jiangsu Shagang Group disclosed that it will invest 14.8 billion yuan ($2.25 billion) in buying and modernizing steel mills in China’s central Henan province in a project to create a high-end steel manufacturing facility.

Led by Anyang Yongxing Special Steel Co Ltd, a unit of Jiangsu Shagang based in Henan, the project aims iron making capacity at 4.94 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) and steel making capacity at 5.5 MTPA when complete confirmed by a local media report.

In its report Jiangsu Shagang Group neither disclosed any completion date for its project nor potential acquisition targets by name, but said private mills in the Anyang city area would be involved. Anyang Yongxing currently has iron and steel producing capacity around 1.85 MTPA and 2.22 MTPA, respectively. 

Beijing has been promoting consolidation in its more than one-billion-tonne steel sector in an effort to enhance major producers’ competitiveness and knock out outdated production capacity. China’s Baowu Steel Group has completed multiple acquisitions and takeovers across the country during 2019-20.

China’s Jiangsu Shagang Group founded in 1996, manufactures and sells various steel products wide heavy plates, hot rolled strip coils, high speed wire rods, ribbed steel bars, and other products. Jiangsu Shagang Group markets its products throughout the world.

(Source: Reuters)

Development of FINEX Process and Steel Plants with FINEX in Operation

In the present article we give a brief data about how the FINEX process evolved from COREX technology, FINEX plants were started and subsequent developments and changes brought in those FINEX plants with their effects besides, the steel plants with FINEX process in operation (existing & upcoming FINEX Plants). Also Read: 

FINEX® Process, smelting reduction technology of iron making - Features, Merits and Limitations     

Development of FINEX Process and FINEX Plants

The FINEX is the latest addition and an optimized fine-ore smelting reduction (SR) process of iron making developed by POSCO that can be considered as an offshoot of COREX technology. In December 1992, POSCO and Primetals Technologies signed a cooperation agreement for the joint development of the FINEX Process. The first FINEX plant with a pilot scale production was started on November 14th 1995. In 2002 POSCO converted one the existing COREX plant into FINEX F-0.6M demonstration plant with a nominal capacity of 0.6 MTPA hot metal production, which commenced operation in May 2003. In July 2014, POSCO stopped the operation of this plant and at present it is in the final stage of agreement with an Indian steel maker for its reinstallation in India (discussed  under Upcoming FINEX plant in India).

Having successful results and following optimization of equipment and process parameters, POSCO decided to install the industrial FINEX F-1.5M Plant (1.5 MTPA production capacity). The work was started to build the first commercial FINEX F-1.5M plant by POSCO in August 2004 which finally commenced operation in April 2007.

Based on the successful results of the F-1.5M FINEX Plant, POSCO and Primetals Technologies decided to further develop F-2.0M FINEX plant with an annual hot metal production capacity of 2 MTPA. The job was started by POSCO In 2011 to build the first FINEX F-2.0M and the plant has been successfully put into operation in January 2014 and according to POSCO, the F-2M FINEX plant produced 1.5 million tons of hot metal in the first 11 months.

Modifications made in the F-2M FINEX Plant with their achievements

The design of the third generation F-2M FINEX plant is characterized by a simplified plant concept resulting in decreased construction weights compared to the F-1.5M concept. Besides others, following major changes in its design are attributed to its achievement: 

• Pneumatic ore charging to the fluidized bed reactors including a 3-stage fluidized bed reactor system resulting in a decreased building height of more than 30%
• Simplified system configuration in the hot compacting system and implementation of dry de-dusting equipment
• Elimination of HCI bin and related top gas system in the melter gasifier tower
• Installation of a centre charging system for hot HCI and coal, allowing for homogeneous charging of feed materials to the melter gasifier. The distribution on the char bed surface is realized via a dynamic gimbal distributor.

These modifications helped in reducing overall construction weight of the FINEX F-2.0M plant by approx. 9% and required no larger space in the plant layout. After start-up in January 2014, operation optimization and facility stabilization, the productivity of the F-2.0M plant achieved its target value of 5760 t/d in April 2014. Since then operation targets are achieved and operational optimization is under progress to further optimize coal consumption.

Due to improvements in equipment and operational skills, a target availability of greater than 95% could be achieved in the first few months of operation.

Upcoming FINEX Plants in India

POSCO and USPL

In Aug’15 POSCO signed a memorandum with Uttam Steel and Power Limited (USPL) to set up 3 MTPA integrated steel plant in Maharashtra (India) at an envisaged investment of nearly ₹ 20,000 crore (Approximately 3.07 Billion USD). The proposed project at Satarda in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district in India is based on POSCO’s patented Finex process. For complete details please refer to our article POSCO signs MOU with Uttam Steel and Power Limited (USPL) to set up a 3 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant at Satarda, India

POSCO and MESCO 

Earlier in this year Mideast Integrated Steel Limited, the flagship company of Mesco Group, India signed a memorandum with South Korean steel maker POSCO to use FINEX technology at its Kalinganagar plant in Jajpur district of Odisha (India). The first FINEX plant of POSCO which they ceased operating since July 2014, is to be transferred to MESCO. This project is part of the USD 700 million first phase steel expansion project to take Mesco Steel's capacity to 2 million tonnes. Presently, Mesco Steel operates two blast furnaces in its plant at Kalinganagar. The company has its own iron ore mine in Roida Barbil region of Keonjhar District in Odisha and another iron ore mining lease at Malangtoli in Odisha. In this month both Posco and Mesco have agreed for next meeting in November this year to discuss the modalities for transfer of Finex technology. After that, the process of dismantling of Posco's Finex plant in Korea and its subsequent installation at Mesco premises would take off. The Finex plant during operation would need a running 100 Mw captive power plant (CPP) and an oxygen plant of 1,000 tonne per day (tpd) capacity. Finex process is expected to cut hot metal production cost for Mesco by Rs 2000-2500 per tonne.

Available FINEX Modules

Different sizes of FINEX modules and capacity made available by POSCO to meet specific requirements of the customers are:

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The largest Blast Furnace of India blown-in by SAIL at ISP, Burnpur

17-Dec-2014
The largest Blast Furnace in India was blown-in at Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL’s) IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) in presence of Sri C.S. Verma, Chairman SAIL, at Burnpur. Named 'Kalyani', the state-of-the-art blast furnace has a volume of 4160 cubic meters and has become the biggest operating blast furnace in India now. Prior to this, the largest Blast Furnace of the country was installed by SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in 2013 which has a useful volume of 4060 cubic meters.


The start-up of this furnace 'Kalyani' is  being considered as the culmination of a massive Modernization and Expansion work in IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) Burnpur for the installation of a state-of-the-art 2.5 MTPA steel plant.

Refer previous article SAIL Expedites Modernization and Expansion of ISP, Burnpur

Environmental Friendly Steel Production at Durgapur Steel Plant, a unit of SAIL

3-Dec-2014
Following the commencement of successful hot trial of second Convertor with Electrostatic-Precipitator (ESP) facility at BOF Shop by the SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) Chairman Mr. C S Verma on 20th Nov, the step produced from it was cast in Caster No 1 producing about 100 tons of billets from all 6 stands on 21st Nov. This is the first time that a Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Unit is using Electrostatic-Precipitator (ESP) facility for an environment friendly steel production.

It won’t be irrelevant to mention here that Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), a unit of India’s steel major Government enterprise SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited), has been able to maintain a commendable performance ever since its inception in all important production parameters. 

Steel Industry News: Kobe Steel and Angang signs JV to start Kobelco Angang Auto Steel Co

Kobelco Angang Auto Steel Co 

13-Aug-2014

Kobe Steel and China's Angang Steel Company, a subsidiary of Anshan Iron & Steel Group Complex, have established a joint venture known as Kobelco Angang Auto Steel Co in China to produce and sell cold-rolled high-strength steel sheet which has a huge demand in automobile industry.

The two parent companies signed an agreement on 17 October, 2013, to form the joint venture and then undertook the necessary incorporation procedures to set up the new company. After receiving approval from the Chinese government, Kobe Steel and Angang Steel were able to establish Kobelco Angang Auto Steel to be headquartered at Angang’s steelworks, Anshan Base, in Anshan, Liaoning Province.

Kobelco Angang Auto Steel will construct a continuous annealing line with a production capacity of 600,000 tons per year to make cold-rolled high-strength steel with a tensile strength of 590 MPa or higher.

According to the Press Release, Angang will supply the joint venture with the substrate coils, with production slated to start in early 2016. The new company will combine Kobe Steel’s world-class automotive cold-rolled high-strength steel technology with Angang’s solid business base to meet growing demand for high-strength steel in China which also harbors the world’s largest automobile market. Total investments are anticipated to reach 1.75 billion yuan (US $291 million).

The new company Kobelco Angang Auto Steel would have a total capital of around 700 million yuan (11.6 billion yen) in which Angang Steel owns 51 percent of the venture and balance 49 percent stake by Kobe Steel. The joint venture will employ about 100 people when it reaches full operation with its Chairman from Angang.

(Source: http://www.kobelco.co)

India builds warships with indigenously developed Alloy Steel DMR249A

1-Aug-2014
In the last month when Rear Admiral (retd) A K Verma, CMD, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) formally handed over the INS Kamorta to commissioning captain Commander Manoj Jha, India touched another milestone in steel making. The day would be marked when India shed her dependency on imported high-grade steel to build warships. DMR249A, or the new category of steel made at Alloy Steel Plant (ASP), Durgapur and further strengthened at the Bhilai Steel Plant, was used to build the anti-submarine warfare corvette. Both, these Steel Plants are the units of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), a PSU, is the largest producer of iron and steel in India.

"This was the first ship of the Kamorta class of ASW corvettes. These are very advanced vessels. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) are presently building the three other vessels of this class. All of them will be built using DMR249A. This was a great achievement for the country. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has developed this steel and we will no longer have to depend on imports for naval shipbuilding that will certainly go up in the days to come. Even the hull of the INS Vikrant, India's indigenous aircraft carrier that is under construction, has been built with this steel. The flight deck of the aircraft carrier has been built using a superior quality steel that was also made at the Alloy Steel Plant," a senior defence ministry official said. 

Till now, India has been primarily using Russian-made AB Steel for naval shipbuilding. With India aiming to turn into a 'Builders Navy' from a 'Buyers Navy', the country can't rely solely on imports of steel. The bulk of sensors and weapons systems on the INS Kamorta have also been supplied by Indian companies. 

Besides pricing, one has to consider changes in the global political scenario. A time may come when sanctions are imposed and exports to India are banned by countries that now supply steel for shipbuilding. Employees at GRSE were trained in ASP specially for welding this steel - DMR249A. This quality of steel was first developed in ingot form at the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), Ranchi as per specifications of the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory. At Alloy Steel Plant Durgapur, the steel was cast into plates with an aim to build a superior quality steel. It was left to Bhilai Steel Plant to produce plates of 8-16 mm thickness without Quenching and Tempering (Q&T), through controlled rolling. The steel can absorb an impact of 78 Joules at 60 degrees below zero. As temperature reduces, the steel actually becomes tougher. This will enable the ship to sail in as low temperature as in arctic waters if the need arises. 

(Source: Excerpts from TOI)

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SAIL’s new grade of steel would make LPG cylinders lighter and tougher

SAIL’s new grade of steel would make LPG cylinders lighter and tougher

3-May-2014

India's largest steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a PSU and Maharatna Company of Govt. of India has developed new grade of steel that will help to make domestic LPG cylinders lighter by 2.5 kgs and also tougher. SAIL's new grade steel has already got ISO quality certification and is ready for use after user trials. Normally from one tonne of steel, 62 cylinders can be made each weighing 15 kgs. But by using SAIL’s new grade, from one tonne of steel around 70 cylinders can be made. Moreover, it would be easier to shape and give a new design and look to the LPG cylinders that have remained unchanged for several decades.

The conventional domestic cylinders are made from 2.9 mm thick steel sheets. “The new steel developed and produced for domestic LPG cylinders has a higher strength to weight ratio and hence 2.44 mm thickness for the cylinder would suffice instead of 2.9 mm. This will reduce the weight of the cylinders by around 2.5 kgs,” said C. S. Verma, the SAIL chairman. SAIL has used the period of flat demand scenario in the steel sector to its advantage by focusing its energy on research and development. The new grade of steel for LPG cylinders is part of 25 new products developed by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in 2013-14, all aimed at increasing the share of value added products in SAIL's portfolio.

Mr. Verma said, “Around 37% of our revenues are from value-added steel products at present and in the next one and a half year, we plan to increase this to 55%. This will help the company financially as well as value added products allow better realizations”.

Earlier, the petroleum ministry had a proposal of reducing weight of domestic cylinders but due to difference in the cost and efficiency mechanics the idea was dropped. There was also a plan to use stainless body for these cylinders but because of excessive cost involved for changeover forced to drop the idea. This time SAIL has been pushing very hard towards the new proposal as it would not lead to any substantial increase in steel price. SAIL has already supplied 50,000 MT of this new grade of steel to a Faridabad-based entity for fabrication of export quality LPG and other cylinders. It has now asked oil marketing companies to approve the new steel grade so that it could be commercially manufactured for domestic LPG cylinders.

(Source: The Financial Express)

Kobe Steel Starts Operation of New Hot-Metal Treatment Plant at Kakogawa Works

25-April-2014
The biggest steel producer of Japan, Kobe Steel’s new hot-metal treatment plant has gone into operation in April at its Kakogawa Works in western Japan. The company previously announced that it would construct the facility to improve the production system at Kakogawa to expand sales of high-end “Only One” steel products and increase its cost competitiveness. Kobe Steel has world-class technologies for producing high value-added steel products, but also raw material processing and iron unit production including pellets, direct reduced iron, and the ITmk3® iron making process.

Hot-metal treatment is a process to remove impurities—sulfur and phosphorus—in the molten iron. The high-end steel products, such as special steel wire rod and bar, automotive high-strength steel sheet, and steel plate for the energy sector etc. produced by Kobe Steel or any steel plant, require a high degree of cleanliness. To produce these steels, hot-metal treatment is an essential process.

The new hot-metal treatment plant has two Kanbara reactors for desulfurization and one dephosphorization furnace. The Kanbara reactor uses a stirring method to desulfurize molten iron. An impeller stirs the molten iron and the agitation removes the sulfur. The new plant, together with existing equipment, enable nearly all of the molten iron to undergo hot-metal treatment and will enable Kobe Steel to further increase the production capacity of high-end Only One products.

The new hot-metal treatment plant increases the reaction efficiency during desulfurization and dephosphorization, thereby reducing the consumption of auxiliary materials for refining and improving yield. According to an estimation the new facility will enable Kakogawa Works to save approximately 6 billion yen annually. Striving to strengthen the competitiveness of its steelworks, Kobe Steel is working to raise its presence in the market and increase its profitability.

Details of Kobe Steel’s new hot-metal treatment plant at Kakogawa Works

· Total investment: About 30 billion yen

· Start-up: April 2014

· Main equipment: Two Kanbara reactors, one dephosphorization furnace

 (Source: Kobe Steel Press Release) 

Steel Industry News - SAIL's IISCO Steel Plant modernization nears completion

18-Oct-2013
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Chairman Mr. C.S. Verma was at SAIL’s IISCO Steel Plant (ISP), Burnpur on 5^th Oct’13 to review the progress the modernization and expansion work of ISP which is in the last phase of its modernization (read integrated commissioning). SAIL Expedites Modernization and Expansion of ISP, Burnpur

SAIL ISP (IISCO Steel Plant) is being upgraded and modernized with a total cost of over ₹ 16000 Crores with a target to produce about 2.9 MT of Hot Metal from this steel plant after its modernization. 

The major facilities include a new 7 meter tall Coke Oven Battery, two new Sinter Machines, a new Blast Furnace of 4060 cubic meter volume with Top Pressure Recovery Turbine, three new 150 ton Basic Oxygen Furnaces, two nos. of 6-strand Billet caster sand one 4-strand Beam Blank / Bloom caster, Universal Section Mill, Wire Rod and Bar Mill with necessary auxiliary and service facilities.

Besides the Coke Ovens Battery, SAIL Chairman also visited the Universal Section Mill, Bar Mill and the BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) and CCP sites.   

     Previous Related Articles

· SAIL News - DSP achieved record Steel Production

· Biggest Blast Furnace BF-3 Goes on Stream at Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP)

·  Iron Making in Mini Blast Furnace (MBF)

· New Coke Oven for Rourkela Steel Plant inaugurated by SAIL Chairman

· India records 33 per cent growth in Steel Production during last 5 years - 2ndHighest in the World         

SAIL News - DSP achieved record Steel Production

18-Oct-2013

Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), a unit of SAIL (Steel Authority of India) - a Maharatna PSU has done it again by clocking the best ever first half (April - Sept) performance in this year since inception of the plant. DSP recorded an an all time high first half as well as yearly production in the previous year.

Congratulating the employees for the stupendous performance, Mr. P. K. Singh, CEO, DSP said, DSP has maintained consistency on improving the performance. The focused strategy and synergy among all departments have played the key role in this achievement. With heightened optimism and collective efforts we will set yet another record in the production in the current year also".

DSP’s record achievement includes the best ever H1 production in vital items - hot metal, crude steel, saleable steel, special steel, caster, saleable steel despatch, blend mix and sinter, registering a substantial growth over the CPLY.

Essar Steel signs MOU with Harsco to become a Zero-Waste discharging company

5-July-2013

In its stride to become a ‘zero-waste’ discharging company Essar Steel, one of the leading steel makers among private sector steel making companies in India,  has signed an mou for 15 years worth ₹ 960 crore (about $ 160 million)  with Harsco India for recovering iron from slag generated in its furnaces.

"The Agreement is for a period of 15 years valued at $ 160 million over the duration of contract. As per agreement, Harsco will recover iron from slag which can then be reused in steel making," Essar Steel today said in a statement. Moreover, after the metal is recovered, the sized slag can be used as road fill, in road-laying, brick-making, cement mix in construction, among other usages.

Essar Steel generates around one million tonnes of slag annually, which it has been using for making various construction materials till now; but the decision to rope in Harsco India, a leading firm in slag processing and metal recovery, has been taken to eliminate wastage of iron content in the slag.

"This agreement is in line with the objective of Essar Steel to become a "zero-waste" steel making company. We remain committed to the cause of sustainable development," said Rajiv Bhatnagar, Director at the Hazira Facility of Essar Steel India.

Essar Steel with a capacity of 14 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) is a fully integrated company from mining to retail and has strong downstream capability with a global presence in several countries - India, Canada, USA and Indonesia.

On the hand Harsco, headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, is a diversified, worldwide company with more than 400 locations in 50 countries, are mainly serving to the industries fundamental to global economic progress and infrastructure development. 

 (Source: Business Line)  

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• JSPL to buy Liberian Wologisi Iron Ore Mine

JSPL to buy Liberian Wologisi Iron Ore Mine

3-July-2013

Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is in talks with Liberian government to acquire the West African country's largest iron ore mine Wologisi in which China has also shown interest. According to industry sources, the deal could be as big as $2 billion but it has not been finalised yet while a decision is expected by the end of September 2013, reported Bloomberg citing undisclosed sources.

According to the report, some lawmakers of Lofa County and a part of local media have also started raising voices against grant of the Wologisi mine to anyone, including JSPL, without ensuring jobs for Liberians as the country's unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world, sources said.

They further said that if the Wologisi iron ore mine deal goes through, JSPL may also go for setting up a 150 MW or 175 MW coal-based power plant in the West African country. The Wologisi mine is estimated to hold several billion tonnes of iron ore reserves, though they have not yet been certified. If the deal goes through, it would be the second acquisition for JSPL in Africa in last one year as it had acquired CIC Energy, which has thermal coal assets in Botswana, in September, 2012 and also JSPL (Jindal Steel and Power) will be the second Indian firm after Vedanta group's Sesa Goa to invest in Liberia.

Here it may be recalled that in March this year, JSPL abandoned its plans to acquire iron ore company Afferro Mining citing low grade magnetite deposits and high costs concerned with the beneficiation of the ore. Incidentally, JSPL wrote off more than $90m after shelving an iron ore project in Bolivia in 2012.

In fact, JSPL has been negotiating with many African countries for securing iron ore mines as part of its overseas expansion. In a recent interview JSPL's Managing Director and CEO Ravi Uppal told PTI "This year we have a capital expenditure target of Rs 12,000 crore for both steel and power together. Next year, it will be about Rs 11,000-12,000 crore, so it will be about Rs 24,000 crore investment in 2 years”. the company will be commissioning new steel mills in Odisha's Angul and in Oman and a new power plant of 2,400 MW capacity in Chhattisgarh's Tamnar. Together with completion of current phase of expansion, JSPL (Jindal Steel and Power) is also gearing up for doing preparatory work on its next phase of expansion, Uppal said, adding that his focus is on beginning phase-II of Angul steel plant and a 1,320 MW power plant in Jharkhand's Godda.

At present Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) is the largest coal-based producer of sponge iron in Asia and the second in the world. After the completion of current phase of expansion, this India based Steel and Power company will have steel production capacity 7.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from existing 3.5 MTPA, while its power generation capacity will increase to 5,000 MW from existing 2,500 MW.

 (Source: The Business Standard)

JSW Steel - Achievements and Developments

5-June-2013

JSW Steel wins prestigious Platts Global Metals Award

JSW Steel Ltd., the flagship company of $11 billion Indian conglomerate JSW Group, has won the prestigious "The Industry Leadership Award" at Platts Global Metals Awards, held recently in London.

Mr Seshagiri Rao, Joint MD, JSW Steel and Group CFO said, "It gives us immense pleasure to get the prestigious Platts Global Metals Award. The company remains committed to the pursuit of challenging targets, safety, environmental protection, transparency, openness and social responsibility in every aspect of business around the world."

The award is given in recognition of achievements mainly in the fields of steel, metals and mining. Platts has ranked the Industry Leadership Award category on five parameters - Financial Results, Innovation, Product Quality, Safety and Strategic Vision. Under Financial Results, it reviews Annual Report, Company Growth figures and projections, Credit rating, Capital assets whereas in Innovation, it checks technology, processes, cost effectiveness and sustainability. On Product Quality aspect, records of reliability based on low percentage of load rejections, consistency of product specifications and timely delivery are some of the parameters which are evaluated while on Strategic Vision, Platts evaluates vision of the company.

Merger of JSW Ispat with JSW Steel

Earlier with effect from 1st June, JSW Steel has completed the merger of JSW Ispat Steel with itself. With the merger JSW Steel has now become the second largest steel producer in India after Steel Authority of India (SAIL) with 14.3 million tones capacity.

JSW Steel has a wide range of products which include pellets, slabs, HR coils/sheets, HR plates, CR coils, galvanized coils/sheets, and colour coated coils/sheets. In fact JSW Steel is one of the principal manufacturers of cold rolled, galvanized, and colour coated steel in India.

Tangshan Iron Steel signs agreement with Siemens VAI Metals

The Tangshan Iron and Steel Company Ltd (also referred as “Tanggang”), the flagship company of China’s largest steelmaker, Hebei Iron and Steel (HBIS) Group, the second largest producer of steel in the world, signed an agreement with the Austria based Siemens VAI Metals Technologies Co, on 5^th March 2013, covering cooperation in technology and innovation.

The agreement calls for SiemensVAI Metals Technologies, a world leader in solutions, technology and services to the mining, iron and steel making sectors, to provide consulting services for Tangshan Iron and Steel to improve energy efficiency in its iron making. Siemens VAI is a part of the Industry Sector of global engineering major Siemens AG (Munich, Germany).

Yu Yong, Tangshan Iron and Steel's president, said that technology innovation and cooperation is inevitable for enterprises in iron and steel, especially in looking for new ways to deal with the intense competition these days. The cooperation here is expected to help Tangshan Iron and Steel develop internationally. It is Hebei’s first company to cooperate technologically with an advanced global enterprise.

Tanggang (Tangshan Iron and Steel Company Ltd) was established in 1943, the original place of the side-blown basic steel converter of China. Tanggang executed a “Three-Step” strategy of development to make a technical innovation on iron, steel and steel rolling, modified the old plants, combined the peripheral plants and quicken the strategy of development of Caofeidian in the “Ninth-Five years” and “Tenth-Five years”, becoming one of the Ten Million Tons Iron and Steel Group in 2005.

Tangshan Iron and Steel Company Ltd has an annual production capacity of around 15 million tons. The products cover four categories: plates, rods, lines and sections, with a total of more than 140 varieties and more than 400 kinds of specifications. The main products are hot-rolled sheet, cold rolled thin plate, galvanized sheet, color-coated sheet medium and thick plates, stainless steel plate, bar, wire rod, sections, all that have passed the EHS. In recent years Tangshan Iron and Steel has made environmental improvements in power consumption, water use and by-product recycling.

JSW Steel signs JV with Japanese Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc (MISI)

14-Oct-2011

JSW Steel on Wednesday (12^th Oct’11) has signed a joint venture agreement with Japanese Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc (MISI) to set up a steel processing centre at an investment of Rs 122-crore (approximately $ 24.5 million) in North India.

The equal join venture company--JSW MI Steel Service Centre--will set up a 1,80,000 tonnes per annum facility to process mainly flat steel products such as hot rolled, cold rolled steel and coated products to cater to the needs of automotive, white goods, construction and other value added segments.

JSW Steel, part of the $8 billion O P Jindal Group is India's third-largest steelmaker. JSW Steel is one of the largest steel producers in private sector in India so far the provision of capacity is concerned. The company has a wide range of products which include pellets, slabs, HR coils/sheets, HR plates, CR coils, galvanized coils/sheets, and colour coated coils/sheets. In fact, JSW Steel Limited has the largest galvanizing and colour coating production capacity in the country and is the largest exporter of galvanized products with presence in over 100 countries across five continents.

For JSW, this comes as yet another Japanese partnership. Last year, Japan’s second largest steel maker JFE announced that it would be buying around 14.99 per cent stake in JSW Steel for about $1.02 billion (Rs 4,800 crore) in what was pegged as one of the biggest foreign direct investment deals in metal and mining space till date.

Japan’s Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc has over 100 processing centres across the world and specializes in value-added steel.

Indian Steel Industry: An account of Public and Private Sector Steel Plants in India

19-Dec-2010
Indian Steel Industry

Steel is the backbone and crucial to the growth of modern economy. A country’s index of socio-economic development can be judged from the production and its per capita consumption of steel. That is why iron and steel industry is called a ‘Key Industry’. India is, most probably, the only country in the world bestowed with the two most important ingredients for making and selling steel – Raw Material (Iron ore) and Customers (Population) – and both of them in plenty. So, these days everyone is looking at India as the world’s next steel hub, be it the mighty foreign steel makers, India’s major ones or, the world’s renowned steel researchers and market watchers. It’s a unanimous voice that India is the country where one can make steel, of course, at a very competitive cost and sell it too and so, ‘additional-capacity-for-steel’ is the buzz word, be it the first generation producers or, the existing ones.

The Indian Steel Industry did remarkably well as compared to the rest of the world (with exception of China) during the recent difficult phase of the world economy. Even while the global production dipped by over 8% in 2009, the Indian Steel Industry registered a decent growth. In fact, Indian Steel Industry was the third fastest growing steel industry in the world next only to China. The demand for Indian steel was growing at 8-9% as against a global average of 5-6%. According to the Short Range Outlook of World Steel Association (WSA), India’s steel demand maintained stable growth during the recent crisis and is expected to grow by 13.9% and 13.7% in the years 2010 and 2011 respectively after a growth of 7.7% in 2009. During 2009-10 the steel production in India was 64.88 million tones, registering a growth of almost 11% from the previous year. New technologies like COREX and new sectors like colour coated steel, galvanizing steel have been introduced successfully.

According to Honorable Union Steel Minister of India, Shri Virbhadra Singh speaking at a National Media Conference held recently in India, the steel industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP is nearly 2% providing employment over 500000 (Five lakh) people. Currently, India is the world’s largest producer of sponge iron and third largest producer of crude steel after China and US. With a targeted production capacity of 124 million tones, then country is expected to become the second largest by 2015. With per capita steel consumption in India, at around only 45 kg, still being much lower than global averages, the opportunities for growth are immense. India’s steel use will reach 71.6 MT in 2011 according to the Short Range Outlook of World Steel Association.  

The structure of the Indian Steel Industry can be divided into the following sectors:

Primary Producers The integrated steel plants (ISPs) who convert iron ore into steel through Coke oven-BF-BOF route e.g. SAIL (Steel Authority of India Ltd), RINL’s (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam’s) Vizag Steel Plant, all Public Sector units and Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), which have among them nine operational units.

Secondary Producers The mini steel plants (MSPs), which make steel by melting, scrap iron or a mixture thereof in an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) or an Induction Furnace (IF). At present there are about 190 Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) and 970 Induction Furnace (IF) in this sector in India. 

Small Producers These include small scale stand alone processors making pig iron and sponge iron, hot and cold rolling units, re-roller units, galvanizing and tin plating units.

After the liberalization of the Indian steel sector in 1992, steel plants came up in a big way in the private sector. In the Private Sector, the private companies can be termed as corporations, sole proprietorships, business trusts while depending on their organizational know-how. In the Public Sector, the Public Companies are termed as corporations owned by the government while the ownership of possessions and concern is communal by the people. The importance regarding a public company is called its marketplace capitalization and the rising of funds is done throughout the retailing of its securities. Some examples of Public Sector steel plants are Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC), Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC) and Bharat Refractories Limited (BRL), etc. while important steel plants in Private sector in India are such as Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) or Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Bhushan Power and Steel Limited, Essar Steel, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), etc. 

According to the figures of JPC (Joint Plant Committee) report, the share of the private sector producers in India’s total gross production of carbon finished steel in 2001-02 was 67.5% which touched a level of 79% in 2009-10.  

Year	Production (in million tones per annum)
1950 – 51 1960 – 61 1970 – 71 1980 – 81 1990 – 91 1997 – 98 2004 – 05 2009 – 10	1.04 2.39 4.64 6.82 13.53 23.40 32.60 64.88

Public Sector Steel Plants

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is the largest producer of iron and steel in India. With its commercial office in New Delhi SAIL produces iron and steel at five integrated steel plants:

1. Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) at Bhilai, Chhattisgarh

2. Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP) at Durgapur, West Bengal

3. Rourkela Steel Plant at Rourkela, Orissa

4. IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) at Burnpur, West Bengal                          

5. Bokaro Steel plant (BSL) at Bokaro, Jharkhand.

Besides, SAIL has four special steel, alloy-steel plants:

1. Alloy Steels Plant (ASP) at Durgapur, West Bengal

2. Salem Steel Plant (SSP) at Salem, Tamil Nadu

3. Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL) at Bhadravati, Karnataka    

4. Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Limited, Chandrapur  

Rourkela Steel Plant

The plants at Chandrapur and Bhadravati are subsidiaries of SAIL. These plants are located mainly in the eastern and central regions of India and situated close to domestic sources of raw materials, including the company’s iron ore, lime stone and dolomite mines. SAIL has distribution network across the country with 65 warehouses and network of dealers in all the districts of India. The IISCO-Ujjain Pipe and Foundry Company Limited, a subsidiary of IISCO, manufactures cast iron spun pipes at its  works at Ujjain. Besides, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) has seven central units –

=> Research and Development Center for Iron and Steel (RDCIS), Center for Engineering and Technology (CET), Management Training Institute, all located at Ranchi (Jharkhand)

=> Central Coal Supply Organization located at Dhanbad (Jharkhand)

=> Raw Materials Division, Growth Division, and Environment Management Division, all located at Kolkata (West Bengal)

The promotion of products of SAIL plants is done by the Central Marketing Organization, Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta). Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) is in the process of modernizing and expanding its production units, raw material resources and other facilities to maintain its dominant status in the Indian Steel Industry. The company plans to increase its capacity and production by 70% by 2010-11 by spending 530 billion INR. Some other key objectives of SAIL’s expansion plan include –

=> 100 per cent production of steel through BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) route.

=> 100 per cent processing of steel through continuous casting method.

=> Adherence to energy saving schemes, environment norms etc.

=> Post-expansion production target of Hot Metal, Crude Steel, Saleable Steel 26.2, 24.6 and 23.1 million tones per annum respectively.

Bhilai Steel Plant

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) having its registered office as well as one integrated steel plant (VSP) at Vishakhapatnam. VSP is India’s primary shore-based public sector incorporated steel plant.

National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) has its head office at Hyderabad. NMDC’s business is to increase mineral resources, with coal, oil, natural gas and atomic minerals. At present its actions are concerned on drawing out of iron ores and diamonds. National Mineral Development Corporation Limited (NMDC) operates computerized iron ore mines in India at Bailadila and Donimalai and diamond mines at Panna. Jammu and Kashmir Mineral Development Corporation Limited (J&KMDC) is a subsidiary company of NMDC, included for increase of various minerals in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants Limited (MECON) situated in the heart of Ranchi city provides all type of Consultancy and Engineering Services including design, lay-out, type of refractory lining etc. to  both ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical units. 

National Mineral Development Corporation Limited 

(NMDC) Plant

Kudermukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) with its head office situated at Bangalore is the country’s 100% export oriented unit. It exports iron ore concentrate and pellets, both Blast Furnace and DR Grade, to many countries such as Japan, China, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Australia, and Taiwan etc.

Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited (MSTC) has its commercial office in Kolkata. It is engaged in introducing carbon steel melting scrap for Mini Steel Plants (MSPs) in the country. The company also undertakes the removal of ferrous and miscellaneous scrap arising from integrated steel plants under SAIL and RINL and disposal of scrap, surplus stores etc. from other public units and governments. Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited (FSNL) is a supplementary of MSTC (Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited) and undertakes the revival and dispensation of scrap from slag disposals of various steel plants.

Manganese Ore (India) Limited (MOIL) with its center of operations at Nagpur is the producer of Manganese ore in India. MOIL produces and sells all grades of manganese ore including high grade manganese ore required for the production of Ferro-Manganese, Blast Furnace grade ore required for the production of Hot Metal and Dioxide ore required for the production of dry battery cells.

Sponge Iron India Limited (SIIL) headquartered at Hyderabad was established as a display of Sponge Iron Plant to set up the techno-fiscal viability of producing sponge iron from lump iron ore and 100% non-coking coal. The plant is intended both for production of sponge iron and for Research and Development work.  

Sector/Plant wise Production of Crude Steel in India  during 2009-10 and 2008-09 (‘000 tones)
Producers	Production during		Variance (%)
	2009-10 (Provisional)	2008-09
Main Producers
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Bhilai Steel Plant Durgapur Steel Plant Rourkela Steel Plant Bokaro Steel Plant Indian I&E Steel Plant Alloy Steel Plant Salem Steel Plant VISL	5108 1966 2128 3599 400 205 0 103	5183 1886 2083 3577 417 168 0 95	– 1.4 4.2 2.2 0.6 – 4.1 22.0 - 8.4
Total SAIL Plants	13509	13409	0.7
RINL (VSP)	3205	2963	8.2
Tata Steel	6563	5646	16.2
Total Main Producers	23277	22108	5.7
Major Secondary Producers
JSWL	5257	3218	63.4
ISPAT Industries	2689	2201	22.2
Essar Steel	3474	3342	3.9
JSPL	1961	1457	34.6
Total Major Secondary Producers	13381	10218	31.0
Other Producers	28217	26201	7.7
Grand Total Production	64875	58437	11.0

         Source: JPC (Joint Plant Committee) report

Private Sector Steel Plants

Tata Steel or Tata Iron & Steel Company (TISCO) located at Jamshedpur is the oldest integrated steel plants in India having started its production in February 1912. 

It is the flagship company of Tata Sons one of the best-known symbols of India’s industrial development. Tata Steel is exporter of lofty quality and worth added steel products. Tata Steel’s products comprise of HR coils, tubes, rods, bars, structural, strips, sheets and bearings. Tata Steel (TISCO) is incorporated with actions ranging from mining of raw materials to finished steel products. Following its new acquisitions, Tata Steel is now a multinational one having operations in many countries. Its Jamshedpur plant contains the DCS supplied by Honeywell while having its registered office in Mumbai, the so-called business capital of India. Tata Steel launched the world’s first branded C.R product in the name of “Tata Steelum”. Tata Steel’s world-class Cold Rolling Mill Complex at Jamshedpur has given a new dimension in the production of Cold-Rolled steel to India.

JSW Steel is one of the largest incorporated private steel producers in India so far the provision of capacity is concerned. JSW Steel has a wide range of products which include pellets, slabs, HR coils/sheets, HR plates, CR coils, galvanized coils/sheets, and colour coated coils/sheets. In fact JSW Steel is one of the principal manufacturers of cold rolled, galvanized, and colour coated steel with its developed service facilities at Vasind and Tarapur near Mumbai in Maharashtra. The company is working hard to achieve the target capacity of manufacturing around 32 million tones of steel per annum. 

Jindal South West Steel Limited formerly known as Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Plant (JVSL) had opted for the COREX – BOF route for producing HR Coils. The COREX process of VAI, Austria (now Siemens VAI) has low emission levels and helps in the generation of medium calorific value export gas offering a clean source of power. The plant is situated at Torangallu in Karnataka had an initial capacity of 1.6 million tones per year (MTPA), which has been expanded to 6.6 MTPA.

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) is the largest coal-based producer of sponge iron in 

Asia and the second in the world. JSPL’s plant situated at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh was the first producer of longest finished rails in the world. It is also producing hot-rolled parallel flange beams and columns as well as Larsen U-type piles for the first time in India.

Essar Steel Limited is another India - based leading steel producer in private sector in India as well as in some other countries. Essar Steel is fully integrated from mining to retail and has strong downstream capability with a global retail capacity in excess of 3 million tones per annum (MTPA). Essar Steel has in its basket many customized products catering to a variety of product segments. It is also India’s largest exporter of flat products to the US and European markets, and to those of South East Asia and the Middle East countries. Hazira Steel Complex near Surat (Gujarat) and Vishakhapatnam Pellet Complex are some manufacturing units of Essar Steel in India. It is the largest steel producer in western India with a capacity of 10 MTPA at Hazira Steel Complex having a complete infrastructure setup including a captive port, lime plant and oxygen plant. The Vishakhapatnam Pellet Complex has a capacity of 8 MTPA while Essar Steel possesses an 8 MTPA beneficiation plant at Bailadila and the world’s largest capacity Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) plant with MIDREX technology at Hazira (later integrated it with DC–EAF and hot strip rolling mill with a capacity of around 5 MTPA). Essar Steel has recently acquired all the assets of Shree Precoated Steel Limited (SPSL) of Pune in India. The capacity of Shree Precoated Steel Limited (SPSL) Colour Coated Line is 400000 TPA (ton per year), of Cold Rolling Mill is 600000 TPA of Galvanizing Mill is 500000 TPA, and of Pickling Line 650000 TPA. With aggressive expansion plans in India, as well as Asia and the US, Essar Steel has a target to achieve a capacity of 14 MTPA by 2011-12. 
[Essar Steel starts second Conarc Furnace].                              

Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd. having head office in New Delhi is a manufacturer of flat, round and long products as well as value added products having a whole steel value chain ranging from coal mining, billets, HR coils, pig iron, CR coils, GP/GC, precision tubes, black pipe/GI pipe, cable tapes, tor steel, wire rod and special alloy steel.

Bhushan Steel and Strips Ltd. has a state-of-the-art 6-Hi Universal Crown Mill supplied by Hitachi of Japan and the process know-how is also from Sumitimo of Japan with auto shape control. Bhushan Steel and Strips Ltd. is producing CR coils up to 1600 mm width at its Shahibabad plant is one of the leading suppliers of Cold-Rolled products to India’s automotive industry.

Ispat Industries Limited has installed the world’s first MEGAMOND Midrex unit and later integrated it with a unique technology of utilizing DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) and BF (Blast Furnace) hot metal as metallic charge in its Twin-shell CONARC EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) followed by thin slab casting and strip rolling with SMS Demag (now SMS Siemag) technology of Germany. Ispat’s plant at Dolvi near Mumbai had an initial capacity of 1.2 MTPA which has been expanded to 3.6 MTPA. Ispat was the first Indian steel producer with thin slab casting facilities and was the country’s first producer of colour coated sheets.