Steel- for dummies (like Me)

Steel is an alloy made from iron and carbon. Higher carbon content is called cast iron. Manganese and chrome alloys are also used. Steel is a major component used in buildings, infrastructure, ships, machines, automobiles. When iron is smelted from it’s ore, it contains excess carbon, hence it is melted and continuously cast into long slabs or ingots.

Long steel - railroads, buildings

Flat steel - automobiles, ships, trains, appliances

Steel production (million tonnes) [2008]

World - 1400

China – 500

Japan - 120

USA - 90

Russia - 70

India - 55

S.Korea- 55

EU - 200

Global steel production can be phased in 3 parts

1950-1973: Post WWII saw a healthy growth of 6%p.a as countries were building infrastructure

1974-2001: were stagnant years as oil shocks created slowdown and there were overcapacities. Continuous cost reduction measures were undertaken. Collapse of Soviet Union saw flooding of excess Russian & Ukrainian steel (70 million tonnes combined capacity). 1992-2001 saw a 25% overcapacity in the global steel markets

2002-2007: the Boom years. China manufacturing increased from 180 to 500mtpa.

Steel is highly fragmented industry. Top 5 players account only 16% of production.

Arcelor Mittal – 110

Nippon Steel - 35

Posco - 32

Shanghai Bao- 30

Tata Steel - 26

SAIL - 14

US Steel - 21

Indian steel makers:

M-cap

SAIL - 84,000 cr

Tata Steel - 40,000 cr

Jindal Steel - 10,000 cr

JSW Steel - 17,000 cr

ISPAT - 2,500 cr

Steel Capacities are added in chunks whereas steel demand only grows linear

Steel making process is of 2 types

1. Blast Furnace technique reduces iron ore in a blast furnace using coking coal as a reducing agent. Oxygen is blown into the molten iron to reduce the carbon content.

2. Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technique was introduced bcoz of inadequate supply of coking coal. In EAF process, steel scrap or Directly Reduced Iron (DRI) is charged in an EAF and is melted using graphite electrodes charged with electricity.

India is the largest producer of DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) or sponge iron.

Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) - 3 MTPA
Bokaro(Jharkhand) - 4.5 MTPA
Durgapur (Bengal) -
Rourkela (Orissa) -
Burnpur -
Salem -

 Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) based world's sixth largest steel company, with an annual crude steel capacity of
31 million tonnes

an ambitious target to achieve a capacity of 100 million tonne by 2015.

Overseas acquisitions have already added up to 21.4 million tonne, which includes

Corus production at 18.2 million tonne,

Natsteel 2 million tonnes

Millennium Steel 1.2 million tonnes

31 January 2007 Tata Steel won their bid for Corus after offering 608 pence per share, valuing Corus at £6.7 billion

13 million tonnes capacity JSW Steel

10mtpa plant at Vijayanagar Works

Vasind and Tarapur Works is 0.9 MTPA of Galvanised, GALVALUME & Colour Coated Cold Rolled products.

Salem Works 1 MTPA is the only integrated steel plant in Tamil Nadu 

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd


 3 million TPA at Raigarh, Chhattisgarh

also: Bhushan, Jindal Stainless, Usha Martin, Monnet Ispat, Uttam Galva, Mukand

1 million tonnes capacity
Khopoli plant for colour coated sheets auto-grade steel
biggest expansion is in Orissa 3MTPA

ESSAR STEEL



•14 million tonnes per annum of current capacity, 
• 25 million tonnes planned capacity Presence in key markets in Asia and North America
• Fully integrated from mining to retail: Essar owns a global portfolio of coal and iron ore mines and has access to all key raw materials, ensuring steady supply to its plants
• Strong downstream capability with service centres and customer care centres, as well as a global network of retail outlets branded Essar Hypermart
• Specialised plants for value-added steel products, like pipes and plates
• Leadership position in the cold rolling, galvanizing and pre-coated segments

CURRENT OPERATIONS
• Hazira, Gujarat,
 10-million tonne steel plant at Hazira, largest in Western India.
Captive port, power plant, lime plant and oxygen plant.
o Cold Rolling plant: 1.4 million tonnes
o Galvanizing plant: 0.5 million tonnes
o A 1.5-million tonne extra wide plate mill
o A 600,000-tonne pipe mill

• Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India: 8-million tonne pellet plant
• Bailadila, Chattisgarh, India: 8-million tonne iron ore beneficiation plant


• Pune, Maharashtra
o 600,000-tonne cold rolling plant
o 500,000-tonne galvanising plant
o 400,000-tonne colour coating plant
o 650,000-tonne pickling line

• Algoma, Ontario, Canada: 4-million tonne steel plant


• West Java, Jakarta, Indonesia:
o 400,000-tonne cold rolling mill and 150,000-tonne galvanising line
o Steel Service Center: 200,000 tonnes


o Essar Hypermart
• Retailing (across India): Over 230 steel retail outlets branded Essar Hypermart
• Services (across India): Largest Steel Service Center facilities in India with an annual
capacity of 2.5 million tonnes located in Pune (Maharashtra), Hazira (Gujarat),
Bahadurgarh (National Capital Region), and Chennai (Tamil Nadu).


UNDER EXECUTION
• Paradip, Orissa, India: A 12-million tonne pellet plant at Paradip close to the port
• Jodha-Barbil area, Orissa, India: A 12-million tonne iron ore beneficiation plant
• Bhuj, Gujarat, India: Steel Service Centre
• Minnesota, USA: A 6-million tonne pellet plant, a concentration plant and a directreduced
iron plant



Hospet-Bellary region of Karnataka state 400,000 tpa of carbon and alloy steels