Sponge iron units plan trade body

Taking a leaf out of Indian Steel Alliance (ISA) constituted by the primary steel manufacturers, secondary steel producers in four eastern states may decide to form a trade association to raise the grievances of small players in the steel industry.

Initially, the secondary steel manufacturers of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa may join this association.

“Later, the other states will also be included to constitute a national level federation of secondary steel manufacturers,” claimed Chhattisgarh sponge iron manufacturers’ association President Anil Nachrani. About 20 leading sponge iron manufacturers from the four states recently met in Kolkata and gave final shape to the proposal to form steel alliance of four states, he added. “The name of the alliance and the other formalities required will be completed in a week,” Nachrani, representing Chhattisgarh in the meeting, said.

The primary steel manufacturers produce about 30 million tonnes of steel per annum while the secondary steel producers in all across the country also manufacture equal quantity of steel based products, Nachrani said. He added that the major players are getting all the sops while the small players in the sector faced hard times.

“This is one of the reasons that prompted the secondary steel producers to form an alliance and fight for their rights,” Nachrani said. Besides sponge iron manufacturers, mini-steel plants, rod-wire, rolling mills, wire-drawing, industrial furnace manufacturers would be included in the alliance. About 10,000 industrialists of the four states would join the alliance. The secondary steel producers in all the four states are reeling under the same problem of raw materials crises, and others issue.