Tata Steel's Kalinganagar plant to focus on import substitutes

Firm is looking to tap emerging, value-added segments like construction & projects, pre-engineered buildings, oil & gas, lifting and excavation and shipbuilding

Tata Steel would focus on manufacturing steel products that help to cut down dependence on imports. The import substitutes would be produced for an array of sectors such as oil & gas, lifting & excavation and automobiles. The product portfolio is also to be made up of high-grade precision instruments and high-end tube products that are currently imported.

"We are raising the bar on products that are being made at Kalinganagar. For some of the import substitute products, we have conducted initial trials while there are others which we have already commercialised. These products are very important for the customers as well as for us", said Rajiv Kumar, vice president (operations), Kalinganagar project, Tata Steel.

Tata Steel has conducted successful trials and started supplies to global leaders in lifting and excavation segment. It has also approvals from an oil marketing company for the supply of API grade steel. Products manufactured at Kalinganagar would help establish Tata Steel as a major player in large diameter water pipeline segment besides strengthening its presence in the construction sector.

In Kalinganagar, the steel company is looking to tap emerging, value-added products and segments like construction & projects, pre-engineered buildings, oil & gas, lifting and excavation and shipbuilding. The new segments are expected to account for 30 per cent of total sales from the Kalinganagar plant.

"The Kalinganagar plant has been designed in a manner that it can match European standards. Its a highly productive unit and we want to benchmark on the productivity numbers", Kumar said.

Presently, the company's Kalinganagar facility is servicing segments like HR (Hot Rolled) commercial, LPG cylinders, precision tubes and Railways. The superior Hot Strip Mill (HSM) at Kalinganagar compared to Jamshedpur, both in width and tensile strength, is capable of addressing to an array of customer requirements. The mill has developed high-end application products such as HS 800, DP 600, API X70/X80 and S355 for lifting & excavation segment.

"Tata Steel is expanding product range and customer capability to produce, thicker, wider and high tensile strength steels with unique grades and tighter dimensional tolerances. The (Kalinganagar) plant has improved cost competitiveness with higher employee productivity and operating KPI (Key Performance Indicator) driven by higher automation", the company stated in an analyst presentation.

Through controlled cooling strategy in the run out table of the Hot Strip Mill (HSM), Tata Steel is developing high tensile grade material suitable for yellow goods and pre-engineered building customers. It is also developing new, targeted products for wheel rim applications, structural application for chassis reinforcement in light, medium & heavy commercial vehicles, thinner & high strength steel for solar panel structures and special grade steel for tubes used in high-end automotive applications.