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TATA METALIKS TO ROLL OUT ENERGY-SAVING PIG IRON GRADES

THE Rs 1,200-crore pig iron manufacturer, Tata Metaliks is planning to roll out energy-efficient pig iron grades in next few months. These products are likely to cut down the power cost of foundries by 20-22%. Tata Metaliks managing director Harsh K Jha told ET that the company is going to standardise the size and shape of pig iron grades so that it can fit the size of cupila or induction furnaces used for melting the iron.

Since the product would be of optimal size fitting the furnace, it will need 20-22% less energy input (coke in case of cupola and electricity for induction furnace). It would make the melting process more energy efficient. This new intervention is likely to increase our input cost as we will have to make extra castings to meet the requirements of various companies. However, it will bring down the running cost of furnaces by cutting down the power requirements. The cost of power comprises 70% of the total input cost in the foundry,” he said. Riding on these energy efficient pig iron varieties, the company aims to grow at 20% in this financial year. "Last year due to global slowdown, our export was just 17%.This year was expect it to go up. However, our priority market remains the domestic market. We have been running at full capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum, " he said. Tata Metaliks has two furnaces in Kharagpur (West Bengal) and three in Redi (Maharashtra). It is also planning to set up 3 million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant in Karnataka to cater to the growing demands.

The Karnataka government has given us the consent. We have applied for the licence to mine iron ore in the region. Once all the approvals are in place, the plant will be set up in 3-4 years, "Mr Jha said. The company also plans to roll out ductile iron (DI) pipes in Indian market through Tata Metaliks Kubota Pipes, a three-way joint venture between Tata Metaliks and Japan-based companies Kubota Corporation and Metal One Corporation. So far, we have been exporting DI pipes to south-east Asian, African and Asian markets. We will now introduce this product to Indian market. DI pipes are 2.5 times more durable than the pipes being used in the country, "Mr Jha said.

It is primarily used in water supply. With a huge number of infrastructural projects in place, we estimate a great demand of such pipes from central and state governments, " he said. The annual demand of DI pipes in the country is around 8 lakh tonnes out of which only 5 lakh tonnes is being produced currently.

There is a big market of such pipes in India. We will start selling these pipes in the country in next few months, "he said.

Souce: Economic Times