SAIL-Bhilai receives special quality plates order in Chhattisgarh

Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), a Chhattisgarh-based arm of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), has received fresh orders from the UAE to supply large volumes of special quality plates.

The plant has received an export order of 10,000 tonnes --- with plates complying with European and American specifications, a BSP spokesperson said. The process of production is scheduled to be completed within March for shipping to the UAE, he added.

The company is also executing export orders for an additional volume of around 10,000 tonnes of plates, which is likely to be completed in February. Plates of mild- and high-tensile grades complying with the European and American specifications are being supplied through Tata International, Dubai.

The spokesperson said the dual certification in the Grades BS 10025 JR-AR and A 572 Gr.50 Type 3 had been done for the first time in Bhilai’s plate mill. Step by step monitoring, along with the support from the plant’s quality department, has resulted in a successful and timely execution of the export orders. The steel for the export grades has been made for the first time in SAIL-BSP with the addition of boron in restricted quantity and titanium, in compliance with National Export Tax norms.

The SAIL-Bhilai unit will ship 34,000 tonnes of plates to West Asian countries, including Dubai in the UAE, in the current financial year. The order includes around 14,000 tonnes supplied in August 2022 with different grades dual certification to European and American specifications.

Besides ensuring desired surface quality and proper marking on the plates for identification, one important factor that has been taken into account while executing export orders is the adherence to delivery schedules strictly -- as this is linked to the availability of a shipping vessel, the official said.

SAIL officials said West Asia had been a prolific market for plates and thermo-mechanically treated (TMT) bars due to the presence of traders as well as various large-scale construction activities in the region. Since there are no facilities for the production of such plates in the region, there is demand to import material from neighbouring Asian countries.

Steel-producing countries like China, South Korea, Ukraine, and Russia are tough competitors to India when it comes to meeting the demand in South West Asia. Competing with China and South Korea - which are prominent suppliers in the present global scenario -- the SAIL-Bhilai plant has forayed into the export market again in the current fiscal year by bagging orders from UAE.

SAIL-Bhilai has been producing and supplying special quality plates in various grades -- ranging from ship-building grade, including plates, for Indian Navy’s warships, boiler and high-tensile grades for different applications of structural constructions such as bridges and flyovers, manufacturing of earth moving equipment, both for indigenous customers as well as for export, to traders and customers abroad.