Displaying items by tag: India

India: JSW Cement has revised its planned expansion to its 14Mt/yr total installed capacity to 39Mt/yr before 1 January 2023, an increase of 5Mt/yr compared to its initial target of 34Mt/yr by 2020. The figure includes JSW’s 54% subsidiary Shiva Cement’s new 1Mt/yr integrated and 1Mt/yr grinding plant, valued at a total of US$112m. Parth Jindal, JSW Cement managing director, said that the figure had been revised upward because Shiva Cement had become self-sufficient in clinker production, freeing the group’s east Indian cement production from ‘volatile import costs.’

Economic Times has reported that Shiva Cement is set to bring its limestone reserves to 100Mt with the acquisition of the Khatkurbahal mine. The company sources its granulated blast furnace slag from the Odisha steel industry. Production of JSW Cement’s flagship product, JSW Portland Slag Cement (PSC), releases CO2 at a rate of 325kg/Mt compared to between 760kg/Mt and 800kg/Mt for typical Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC).

Luxembourg: ArcelorMittal’s sales fell by 2% year-on-year to US$38.5bn in the first half of 2019 from US$39.2bn in the same period in 2019. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 43% to US$3.21bn from US$5.59bn. Crude steel production volumes rose by 3% to 47.8Mt from 46.5Mt.

"After a strong 2018, market conditions in the first half of 2019 have been very tough, with the profitability of our steel segments suffering due to lower steel prices combined with higher raw material costs,” said Lakshmi N Mittal, ArcelorMittal’s chairman and chief executive officer (CEO). He added that the company had recued its production capacity in Europe in responses to global overcapacity.

World: Crude steel production grew by 4.9% year-on-year to 925Mt in the first half of 2019 from 882Mt in the same period in 2018. Data from the World Steel Association shows production increased in Asia and North American, remained stable in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region but that it fell in the European Union. Of the larger individual steel producing countries gains were reported in China, India and South Korea, but declines were noted in Germany and Japan.

India: The Bureau of Indian Standards' Hyderabad branch office has granted a licence for a slag cement product made by UltraTech Cement. The ground granulated blast furnace slag product is for use for use in cement, mortar and concrete according to Indian Standard IS 16714:2018, according to the Press Trust of India.

UK: Henrik Adam has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tata Steel Europe. He succeeds Hans Fischer, who has decided to step down from the post. Fischer will continue as a non-executive director and will continue to advise TV Narendran, CEO and managing director of Tata Steel. Adam will also join the board of Tata Steel Europe and report to TV Narendran.

Adam joined Tata Steel Europe in 2011 as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to this he held a wide range of roles at ThyssenKrupp including CEO of ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel. He has also been a director of EEF (now called Make UK), the UK’s manufacturers’ organisation, and chairman of WorldAutoSteel, the automotive group of the World Steel Association. Born in Essen Germany, Adam is a mechanical engineer who started his career as a scientist in vehicle safety technologies.

India: JSW Cement has launched its ‘Comp Cem’ product in Goa. It is a blend of clinker, ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash, according to the United News Of India. The new product is intended to help the cement producer expand its distribution network in the southern and western parts of the country.

India: JSW Cement plans to increase the production capacity to 3.6Mt/yr at its Salboni grinding plant in West Bengal. The unit has a capacity of 2.4Mt/yr at present, according to the Economic Times newspaper. The cement producer plans to strengthen its presence in eastern India starting with West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand. The plant manufactures Portland Slag Cement and it hopes to tap into local demand for this product with the upgrade.

World: Global steel production rose by 4.6% year-on-year to 1.81Bnt in 2018 from 1.73Bnt in 2017. Data from the World Steel Association shows that production rose fastest in the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. Asian production rose by 5.6% to 1.27Bnt and North American production grew by 4.1% to 121Mt. European production remained static at 312Mt, with a slight dip in the European Union (EU) balanced by slight growth in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). China remained the largest steel producing country, with 9.28Mt in 2018. It was followed by India, Japan, the US and South Korea.

India: JSW Steel has signed a 10-year agreement with US-based Harsco for a range of mill services. Harsco will provide JSW Dolvi in Maharashtra with on-site slag handling services including under-furnace digging, ladle wrecking, and hot slag transport. No value for the contract has been disclosed.

India: The slag yard at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in Andhra Pradesh has collapsed. No injuries were reported during the incident, according to the Hindu newspaper. The cause of the accident remains unknown. The slag yard was built at the time of commissioning of the steel plant. An official said that production remained unaffected. Slag from the steel plant is supplied to cement and brick producers.