JSPL's gas dream in steel making process

Bhubaneswar: Eminent industrialist of the country,  Naveen Jindal led Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) going to achieve a great milestone in steel making process. Company announced to start sponge iron production using synthesis gas first time in the world. By May 15 of this year company will start production of sponge iron using synthesis gas in the Angul plant. Sponge iron to be produced through direct reduced iron (DRI) route. DRI plant has the capacity to produce 2 million tonnes per annum.

Neveen Jindal in Odisha secretariate buliding

JSPL has a six million tonnes capacity based coal to gasification plant in Angul district of Odisha. Company did substantial investment in this project. Today, after deliberation with chief secretary of Odisha J K Mohapatra JSPL's chairman Naveen Jindal told to media persons that for gasification purpose company will use locally available coal which have more ash component. Highly environmental standard will maintained for this project he added.

Odisha to become the first state in the whole world to produce sponge iron using gas technology. JSPL singed a agreement with South Africa based company Lurgi Technology Company Limited to provide advanced technology for this project.

Government alloted Utkal B-1 coal block to JSPL for this plant. Aproval to start mining activity has still pending with state government.

JSPL's Angul Steel mill

However, JSPL’s ambitious bid to produce petrol from coal got a jolt with the Ministry of Coal de-allocating the Ramchandi promotional block allotted to it. When asked on the fate of the coal-to-liquid project, Jindal said, “The coal block for the project has been de-allocated by the Coal ministry. We will see what can be done on the project.” JSPL’s coal-to-liquid project  (CTL) was to be taken up by its subsidiary Jindal Synfuels Ltd at an estimated cost Rs 60,000 crore.
The company needed approximately 5000 acres of land for the Coal-to-Liquid complex that will include an 1100 Mw captive power plant (CPP) and 50 million tonne per annum coal washery.

Steel Secretary urges paradigm shift in approach to utilise steel slag

New Delhi: A seminar on Promoting Awareness and Usage of Steel Slag was jointly organised by the Ministry of Steel and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi today.  The seminar was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Indian Road Congress, National Rural Roads Development Agency, Central Road Research Institute, National Highways Authority of India, Public Works Department, Central and State Pollution Control Boards, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Bureau of Indian Standards, National Council for Cement and Building Materials as well as by International Slag companies and consultants from USA, Europe and Australia. Experts from various sectors which could benefit through steel slag usage such as cement, construction, infrastructure, railways, agriculture and steel, attended the seminar.

The objective of the seminar was to stimulate discussion among various key stakeholders including the Government, policy makers, industry leaders, steel manufacturers and end-user segments from India, to illustrate existing and possible applications of iron and steel slag, and to highlight its suitability and effectiveness in replacing natural materials.

Steel slag is a co-product generated during the steel making process. It is used as an aggregate in many industries, with a high rate of adoption globally, especially in the United States, the European Union, China and Brazil. Its high abrasion resistance, soundness characteristics, high bearing strength and basicity make it suitable to be used as ballast for railways as well as in road making as a replacement for natural aggregate, in cement making, in agriculture for soil amelioration, in paver blocks & bricks, and also as an alternative to landfills. This necessitates that proper procedures, regulations and guidelines be formulated in India for the testing, processing and usage of slag. The seminar has been a useful platform to bring regulators as well as stakeholders from various industries together to work towards this.

 Stating that the industry needed to now look at time-bound outcomes on the utilization of steel slag,  G. Mohan Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India, said, “There should be a paradigm shift in our approach. We need a sustained effort on what is possible and today is a beginning. It is gratifying to see such an overwhelming response to the need to address the utilization of steel slag. The industry needs to come together on this issue, and I hope that the sparkling discussions in the technical sessions result in something concrete.”

Vishnu Shankar Prasad, Secretary General, Indian Roads Congress said, “There is a need to have collaborative research in the country to identify applications of steel slag across sectors. The roads sector in India, being the world’s largest, has the highest capability to absorb industrial co-products such as steel slag, while also addressing costs of road construction. There is a need to have a mission-mode approach to bring all stakeholders to the same platform to discuss optimized ways to utilize this co-product.”

Posco cuts investment plan for 2014, Will it affect the future of Odisha project?

Bhubaneswar: Due to weak demand of steel in major country of the world especially China, world's fifth largest steel company Posco cut it's sales and investment forecast for this calender year. In 2014 Seoul based company cut down it's investment plan outlay by 16 percent to 3.3 trillion won. Company earlier planed to invest 3.7 trillion won on various projects. Won is the exchange currency of Korea.

 Here a obvious question arise about the fate of Posco India's largest integrated steel plant to be build in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district. This project from beginning always faced many hurdles like land acquisition, getting statutory approvals, local people's anger and many more. State government try hard to transfer required land for first phase construction of the plant. But due to local people's opposition it will not happen smoothly. If Posco will get required land to start construction in 2014 will it able to arrange all money? As the parent company did not specify in which project or region it will cut down it's investment but Asia will not get much investment. In a statutory filling company may have tried to express this kind of speculation.
If required investment not available, then Posco's Odisha project going to delay some more years.
Posco had signed MOU with Odisha government during 2005 to construct plant in 4000 acres land. It promised to invest 52,000 crores for the project. Company cleared a major hurdle for this project with getting environment clearance in January this year. But their has a condition for the company to spend for social commitment. That commitment will raise the project cost by 600 million dollar. Company has to arrange that amount during plant construction.
Posco's integrated steel plant and port project was to originally come up on some 4,000 acres in the coastal town of Jagatsinghpur. However, environmental clearance and land procurement held up the project since 2005. It needs 2,700 acres to commence work on first phase of the project, while the state government has already transferred 1,700 acres to it.
  The steel project had received initial clearance from the Environment Ministry in 2007 and final approval was granted in 2011. The National Green Tribunal (NGT), a quasi-judicial body, however suspended the permit in March 2012 citing environmental concerns.
The environmental clearance for the project comes nearly nine months after a government-appointed panel of experts recommended reinstating an earlier environment clearance given to the steel project.

Posco's environment clearance for the proposed port is still pending.
As per a Posco  if everything goes as planned, the Phase 1 of the project might be commissioned in 2018 while Phase II would be completed three years after completion of Phase I, and Phase III will be commissioned within three years after Phase II. The project will include iron ore mine development over 30 years (total 600 million tonnes) at captive mines located in the Keonjhar and Sundergarh districts of Odisha, as well as development of related infrastructure.
Last year, facing inordinate delays in land acquisition and local opposition, Posco scrapped its proposed Rs 30,000 crore project in Karnataka.
 

India produces 7.25 million tonnes of Steel in March: World Steel Association

Bhubaneswar: India produces 7.25 million tonnes of steel in March. In Asia, India ranked third in terms of steel production behind China and Japan. World steel Association (WSA)  the apex body of global steel industry releases it's report on March production.

In the first three months of 2014, Asia produced 274.0 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 2.6% over the first quarter of 2013. The EU produced 43.8 Mt of crude steel in the first quarter of 2014, up by 6.7% compared to the same quarter of 2013. North America’s crude steel production in the first three months of 2014 was 29.9 Mt, an increase 0.8% compared to the first quarter of 2013. The C.I.S. produced 26.3 Mt of crude steel in the first three months of 2014, a decrease of -2.8% over the same months of 2013.
China’s crude steel production for March 2014 was 70.3 Mt, up by 2.2% compared to March 2013. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 9.7 Mt of crude steel in March 2014, an increase of 2.9% over March 2013. South Korea’s crude steel production was 6.1 Mt in March 2014, up by 8.0% on March 2013.

 

In the EU, Germany produced 4.0 Mt of crude steel in March 2014, an increase of 6.1% compared to March 2013. Italy produced 2.4 Mt of crude steel, up by 8.0% compared to March 2013. France’s crude steel production was 1.4 Mt, an increase of 4.1% on March 2013. Spain produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, up by 4.1% compared to March 2013.
Turkey’s crude steel production for March 2014 was 2.8 Mt, down by -4.3% on March 2013.
In March 2014, Russia produced 6.0 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 1.3% compared to the same month 2013. Ukraine’s production was 2.7 Mt in March 2014, down by -7.7% on March 2013.
The US produced 7.4 Mt of crude steel in March 2014, up by 0.9% on March 2013.
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 65 countries in March 2014 was 79.0% and it is 0.4 percentage points lower than March 2013. Compared to February 2014, it is 1.4 percentage points higher.

Update of the Day

1-JSW Steel commissions cold rolling mill in Karnatak.

2-Jindal Stainless gets order for ITER's Cyostat project.

3-Coal companies to take prior action to renew fuel pact in time: Inter Ministerial Group

4-Odisha gives in-principle nod to allot land for Damara Port.

5 -India's March steel production record 7.25 million tonnes

NALCO All Odisha QC Convention inaugurated

Bhubaneswar: 19th All Odisha Quality Circle Convention was
inaugurated today at Nalco Nagar, Bhubaneswar. Ansuman Das, CMD,
NALCO graced the inaugural session as the chief guest and inaugurated

the convention. S.S. Mahapatra, Director (Production), and
S.C. Padhy, Director (HR), were present on the occasion as the guests
of honour.  Besides, Soma Mondal, Director (Commercial) and S.K. Dash, ED(P&T), NALCO, were also present on the occasion. At the
outset, V. Balasubramanyam, ED(Production), NALCO, delivered the
welcome address. This year the theme of the convention is "In the race
for quality, there is no finish line". Altogether, 34 teams comprising
29 Quality Circles and 5 TPMs are participating from 22 organizations
including NALCO, TATA Steel, HAL, NTPC, SAIL etc. The participating
teams would be presenting their case studies in this 2 day long QC
Convention. It may be mentioned that, NALCO is organizing this QC
convention every year, since 1996 with an aim to spread the Quality
Circle movement in Odisha, and also to provide a platform for
competition to encourage the best Quality Circles & TPM Circles
operating in the State.

Universal Launches Self Loading Mixer in Odisha

Bhubaneshwar : India's leading Construction equipment company Universal Construction Machinery and Equipment ltd today expanded its product portfolio in Odisha with the launch of Self Loading Concrete Mixer to further augment its leadership position in concreting equipments in East India Market. Universal has three state of art plants at Pune, Satara in Maharashtra and Rudrapur in Uttaranchal with a portfolio of more than 50 products in concreting and Material handling Equipment. 

The Self Loading Mixer (SLM) will be an apt product in rural, semi urban and remote areas in Odisha because of its mobility where security is a concern. Ranjit More, Vice Chairman Universal Group, Sanjeev Nayak, MD Equipage Infracore Pvt. Ltd, Sunil Bhamre, General Manager, Universal, Manoj Sau, State Manager, Universal, MP Allam, Regional Manager, Universal and SK Pattanaik, General Manager, Equipage Infracore Pvt. Ltd were present on the occasion.

The Self Loading Concrete Mixer is totally developed by in-house R& D team which saves foreign currency & heavy tech fee. The new Self Loading Mixer (SLM) is available in capacities of 2 and 4 CuM capacities. The product is ideal for projects which require constant shifting of machines like Canal Lining, Road projects, Windmill and Irrigation projects. The Machine can self load the aggregate, batch mix, transport and discharge the concrete at specific locations. Only one operator is sufficient to operate the machine.  The machine is totally hydraulic with all wheels steerable which enables machine to move at sites @ 30degree and also turn in very short radius approx 3mt. The machines mixes concrete which is in transit @ 2-6rpm & discharge it into @ high speed of 18rpm. Universal SLM offers maximum comfort level with rotating seat, closed cabin and clear visibility with adequate safety measures.

Speaking on the occasion Ranjit More , Vice Chairman , Universal Construction Machinery and Equipment said that most of the self loading mixers present domestically are a result of Joint Ventures , but Universal is one of the first Indian companies to solely design and manufacture this machine domestically The significance of this is that this product is designed specifically keeping in mind the needs of Indian Consumer at a time when there is acute shortage of manpower .He added that this product has a huge potential in areas where irrigation projects are on the verge of completion and Canal projects are being started . Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, North East and Gujarat have a high demand for such products. This product has a market of 400cr domestically and is increasing by 20%. We are targeting 50 SLM machines in Odisha in the first year through our authorized dealer Equipage Infracore Pvt. Ltd. with its strong network and infrastructure all over Odisha . Mainly we are covering from Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Barbil , Angul , Rayagada amongst others . Bhubaneswar is our head office cum service centre in Odisha

Ranjit More added that SLM is a result of setting up a new R&D Center in Pune in September 2013. The purpose behind setting up an R&D center is development of new products, up gradation of existing products, developing import substitutes based on Indian Conditions, Localizing products for International Markets and constantly improving manufacturing processes. A team of 22 engineers and 8 technicians will be operational at this center. Our target would be to come out with at least five products every year and intensify competition in international markets.  Recently we have deployed seven Robots at Pune Plant which will help to maintain consistent quality accuracy and increase our production nearly five-fold  Since Universal products are sold in nearly forty five countries  we are concentrating on localizing our products to suit that particular market . We also realize the importance GenNext products with more efficiency which include multi location machines with centralized control and will be offering that to our client .The R&D center will enable us to come up with more technologically advanced and user friendly products.

10 Most Important fact about lifting of Goa mining ban

Bhubaneswar: Today Supreme Court allows miners in Goa to start iron ore mining. Court specify various conditions on the state before lifting  ban which was created painful for the miners in Goa over the year. Here we discuss about why Supreme Court lift the ban and what this court order meant for other states.

1-Though supreme court lifted ban on miner it has capped the production of iron ore per years. That means now miners only try to produced ore which is valuable to them and keep their business volume as that was earlier. It also open the path for competition among miners in the state.

2-No company will produced more than specified limit.

3-Supreme court  said there cannot be a deemed renewal of lease after 2007 of the existing lease deeds emanating from 1962 onwards.

4-It also said there will be no grant of lease for mining around one km of national parks and wild life sanctuaries.

5-The court directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to identify eco-sensitive areas around national parks within six months.

6-Court said the Goa government will formulate a scheme within six months for utilising the funds generated by e-auction.

7-Woorkers on rolls of all mining firms will be paid 50 per cent of the wage during the period for which they were out of work

8-Within six months, the expert panel will recommend how the extracted dumps are to be utilise.

9-Court order for Goa indicated that miners working in other mineral rich states should take care of all this conditions laid by supreme court for Goa miners. It will helpful for them to improvise their business model and less stress on their business.

10-It is now time for Goa mines and  giant mining company to revive their business. 

India to play major role in global steel growth this year

Asia's second rapidly growing economy India to have play major role in increasing the global steel demand this year. Not only India other county like Brazil, Russia and some Asian and African country also provide valuable support. But China hold the pivotal position for steel growth. Outside China these country will be main growth driver.

In a recent report published by Ernst and Young( EY) estimated that steel demand growth  in the whole world may be around 3.3 percent. It is very faster than previous years.

 

Main Growth Driver:

• India
• Brazil
• Russia
• West Asia
• North Africa
• China 

EY report said that, if urbanisation projects continue, accompanied by a strong domestic economy and a growing middle class, it will shift demand to more sophisticated consumer products such as cars and home appliances which will benefit steelmakers with high-end, value-added products.
Though demand growth expectation is a good news but excess capacity remains the biggest threat to the steel sector. Permanent shutdown of inefficient capacity is the only real solution to bring balance to the market but in the short term it is difficult to see this happening given state participation in many countries and additional incentive to retain employment.  According to EY estimate, around 300 million tonnes steel making capacity needs to be closed for the industry's profit margin to reach a sustainable level.

(Creative story of steelOdisha, Please do not copy it)

Brand Misuse: SAIL files FIR against Kashmir Steel

Steel maker SAIL's marketing arm CMO has filed an FIR against its a authorized dealer Kashmir Steel Corporation alleging misuse of registered trademarks.

"Operating as a dealer of SAIL since 2005, Kashmir Steel Corporation has clandestinely manufactured and supplied substantial quantity of spurious steel rebars illegally bearing the SAIL TMT mark for use in various projects in Jammu and Srinagar," state-owned SAIL said in a statement.

It is mentioned in the FIR that the actual quantity of SAIL TMT rebars made available for retail sales to Kashmir Steel Corporation in the last one year was only 265 tonnes, SAIL said.

"However, the dealer supplied much higher quantity running into several thousand tonnes of spurious steel for use in infrastructure projects in Jammu & Kashmir by branding it as SAIL steel," SAIL said in the FIR.

SAIL also alleged that Kashmir Steel forged the dealership certificate by extending the validity to January 2016, though it was valid till January 2014 only.

SAIL plans to take further action against the dealer, including demanding huge compensation for causing damage to the company's reputation by misuse of its registered trademark.

Queries sent to Kashmir Steel Corporation regarding the allegations remained unanswered.

The CMO had earlier filed a complaint against some infrastructure firms for allegedly stocking spurious TMT rebars bearing the SAIL trademark at its project sites in Jammu & Kashmir.

Last week, CMO had also filed legal charges against one of its own conversion agents, SKS Ispat of Raipur, for misusing the SAIL logo and trademark.

In addition, CMO lodged FIRs against Raipur-based re-rollers Pankaj Ispat and Alankar Alloys, who were allegedly found to be infringing trademark laws by illegally manufacturing TMT bars bearing SAIL trademarks in their factories.

The steel giant said it is determined to protect its 18 registered product trademarks and will take stringent action against any re-rollers, dealers or others indulging in manufacturing and sales of spurious steel by stamping SAIL brand names/trademarks on them.

(copied from PTI)

Tata Steel’s Art Camp Harnesses the Creative Talents of Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The three day long art exhibition cum camp aimed at honing the creative talent of budding artists while providing a platform for senior artists to showcase their work, hosted at Jaydev Bhawan here by industry leader Tata Steel in association with ‘TOGETHER ’a forum for creative artists,  concluded today.

Renowned sculptor, Padma Vibhushan Raghunath Mohapatra graced the occasion as the chief guest.  Among the esteemed guests present on the occasion were Pradeep Kumar Jena, Principal Secretary to the Government of Odisha, Energy, I & PR, Arun Misra, Vice President, Operations, Kalinganagar Project, Tata Steel,  Ruchi Narendran, wife of Mr T V Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, India and South East Asia.

Raghunath Mohapatra appealed to the artists for preserving the tradition of excellence in art and culture of this great land. Addressing the artists and the art lovers, Ms Narendran, spoke highly about of artistic grandeur of Odisha and promised continued support of Tata Steel to such initiatives in the state in future.

Speaking on the occasion  Pradeep Kumar Jena lauded the efforts of Tata Steel in providing a congenial platform for the promotion of art by supporting such exhibition and camps. Arun Misra reiterated the company’s longstanding commitment for strengthening the rich cultural tradition of the state through various initiatives including support to artists.

Three veteran artists, Siba Panigrahi, D N Rao and Baladev Maharatha were felicitated on the occasion. Three young artists, Sangram Majhi, Parameswar Samal, Anjaneya Mohapatra were also awarded scholarships for their promising talents.

On this occasion, winners of the high school level art competition organised by Tata Steel earlier and the twelve artists showcasing their creative masterpieces in the exhibition were also honoured. During the three day exhibition cum camp, curated by Manas Jena of TOGETHER, senior artists created new paintings along with showcasing their earlier works and also mentored the budding talents who participated in the camp.

Check Out: What types of industry opportunity available in which district of Odisha

	-Rajgangpur Area (Iron & Steel, Sponge Iron, Cement, Secondary steel. Melting and rolling mill & refractories and chemicals).
	Ib valley area (Thermal power, Sponge iron, refractories, and coal mines)
	Hirakud area (Aluminum & rolling mills)
	Talcher-Angul area (Thermal power, Aluminum, Coal washeries, Ferro alloys, Coal mines).
	Choudwar area (Ferro alloys, Thermal power, pulp and paper, coke oven)
	Balasore area (pulp and paper, ferro alloys, rubber industries)
	Chandikhol (stone crusher, coke oven)
	Duburi (Integrated steel, ferro alloys, rubber industries)
	Paradeep area (fertilizer, sea food processing, petroleum coke)
	Khurda Tapang area (stone crusher)
	Joda Barbil area (iron, sponge iron, ferro alloys, iron ore crusher, mineral processing).
	Rayagada area (pulp and paper, ferro alloys).

List of Mega Steel plant in Odisha

Sl.No	Name of the company	Location	Capacity per MOU (in MTPA)		Investment Rs .inCrore(as per Mou)
1	M/s TATA Steel Ltd	Kalinganagar Industrial Complex, Duburi, Jajpur	1st Module	3.00	10,400.00
			2nd Module	3.00	5,000.00
2	M/s Sterlite Iron and Steel Company  Ltd.	Palasponga, Keonjhar	Phase-I	3.4	9,782.00
			Phase-II	1.7	2,720.00
3	M/s ESSAR Steel Orissa Ltd.	Paradeep		4.00	10,721.00
4	M/s POSCO India (P) Ltd.	Paradeep		12.00	51,000.00
5	M/s Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.	Benefication Plant at Deojhar, Keonjhar & Steel Plant at Angul		6.00	13,135.02
6	M/s Bhushan Steel Ltd.	Meramundali, Dhenkanal		3.00	5,828.15
7	M/s Welspun Power & Steel Ltd	Tangi-Choudwar of Cuttack district & Darpani ofJajpur district		3.00	6,103.80
8	M/s Uttam Galva Steels Ltd	Palaspanga, Keonjhar		3.00	8,987.00
9	M/s ArcelorMittal India Ltd.	Patna Tahasil, Keonjhar dist.	Phase-I	6.00	22,000.00
			Phase-II	6.00	18,000.00
10	M/s SSL Energy Ltd.	Nuahata near Banarpal, Angul	Phase-I	3.00	4,339.00
			Phase-II		4,270.00
Total				57.10	172,286