STEEL & METALLURGY :: Abstract for January 2010 Issue

View of January' 2010 Issue
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Challenges and Achievements of the Steel Industry in South Korea in the Past 10 Years
By Hu-Chul Lee, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering,
Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Republic of Korea

ABSTRACT
The recent surge in the total world production of steel has pushed the market prices of raw materials to an unbearably high level for Korean steel producers. With limited deposits of high quality ores and coking coals, this tendency will likely remain the same or even intensify in the future. Those steel manufacturers who import most of their raw materials from foreign markets are in danger of becoming incompetitive compared to those who are in possession of their own ore or coal mines. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is another concern that all steel producers will have to face soon. Korean steel makers are successfully developing new processes to reduce their production costs and emission of greenhouse and pollutant gases. To tackle these challenges in time, talented engineers and researchers are very much needed in the steel industry. Various collaboration programs with academic or research institutions to attract young students and scientists to the steel industry have been launched and currently operate successfully in Korea.
1. GROWTH OF STEEL INDUSTRY IN KOREA

All efforts to build up Korean industries after World War II were completely shattered by the outburst of the Korean War in 1950. However, even during the Korean War, small machinery shops, cast shops and forging shops started their journey in order to manufacture and supply steel products, such as small machine parts, wires, nails, leaf springs, etc., necessary for the reconstruction of houses and buildings. Home and agricultural utensils were also produced. In the beginning, the steels necessary for these shops were derived from war scraps. With the increasing demand for steel supplies, the first steel company, Daehan Heavy Industries, was established in June 10, 1953, just before the end of the Korean War. The production capacity of its Open Hearth Furnace was 36,000 tons per year and it was supplied by the German company DEMAG AG. However, it can be said that the modern steel industry in Korea was initiated with the establishment of The Pohang Iron and Steel Company (now POSCO) in 1968, the first integrated steel mill in Korea. Crude steel production was started in 1973 and its production continuously increased up to 31 million tons in 2008.

Chillmek in service of Indian Steel Industry
By Our News Bureau

ABSTRACT
Chillmek Engineering Private Limited, an innovative team in steel sector, was incorporated in January 2005 with a vision of excellence to provide proper solution for the Steel Melting Shop related equipment / production. With this view the organisation stepped into the field of Induction Melting Furnace spare’s & support service to existing industries. Gradually, it was successful enough to earn confidence from the market and started producing Continuous Casting Machine, Electrical Arc Melting Furnace, Ladle Refining Furnace, Vacuum Degassing / Vacuum Oxygen Decarburisation Unit, Smelting Furnace etc. with support from number of world’s leading vendors. During this small span of operation it has got a prominent recognition in almost all the corners of domestic as well as international market.
Technically this organisation is dedicated to learn more & more and share the knowledge with the industry for upgradation. Chillmek’s main aspect is not to compromise with quality at any cost due to tremendous market competition with so many organised & unorganised including multinational companies. This fast growing concern is very careful about operational policies like order taking, job execution in time, quality & prompt service for a steady but slow development along with intact good will. The company is committed to serve the society through prominent industries by producing user friendly, energy efficient, and trouble free equipment coupled with best quality services.

Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2010-2011
By our news bureau

ABSTRACT
I. EU Macro-economic overview
1. EU economy will gain further strength in 2010
2. Recovery will be slow but risks appear to be broadly balanced
3. Brightened industrial outlook owing to improved trade situation
In the third quarter of 2009, the recession in the EU came to an end as economic growth turned positive again (0.3% quarter- on-quarter).
An improvement in foreign demand – led by a pick-up in trade in the Asian region - and marked slowdown in the pace of destocking provided the main stimulus to growth. Meanwhile, domestic demand remained subdued; the rise in government consumption was just about enough to dampen the negative effect of the decline in investment and private consumption.
Growth in Germany and Italy was quite robust, contrasting with still weaker economic fundamentals in Spain and the UK. The situation remained particularly cumbersome in some Central European countries such as Latvia, Hungary and Rumania where the economic downturn accentuated the existence of structural economic imbalances.
First estimates for the final quarter of last year point to a continuation of the recovery in the EU; all in all, EU GDP is expected to have declined 3.9% in the whole of 2009.

CO2 Breakthrough Technologies in Steel industry
By Pierre Gugliermina, Chief Technology Officer, ArcelorMittal

ABSTRACT
It is important to reduce the anthropological CO2 emissions which give rise to increased CO2 concentration in the atmosphere thereby leading to risk of climate change. The steel industry is responsible (directly and indirectly) for 6% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Steel is uniquely placed to be a highly sustainable material to meet the needs of the future with an unique advantage of steel’s excellent recyclability. The steel industry has stepped up to the specific challenge of direct CO2 emissions in the production process of steel with multiple projects running around the globe. The ULCOS program which started in 2004, bringing together 48 partners with a budget of 75 M€ with ArcelorMittal as the leader is one of the most ambitious with objective of steel production emission reduction in the range of 30–70%. Of all the technologies studies by ULCOS the Top Gas Recycling (TGR) coupled with Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) is the most immediately promising route. ULCOS is presently moving into the final stage of the scale up of the Top-Gas Recycling Blast Furnace technology to commercial size. This second-step Demonstration initiative is called ULCOS II. The next phase of the project will include a pilot step focused on demonstrating the capture part of the technology and a demonstrator step where the capture will be scaled up to the size of an average EU blast furnace and connected to a storage in a local deep saline acquifer. The uncertainty and the risk involved in such a breakthrough project necessitate national and multinational funding to make the project a success.

GFMS 2009 - Performance Review
By our New Bureau

ABSTRACT
1. Going into the New Year, GFMS reviews its forecasts for 2009, as well as summarising its view for 2010. In January of last year, GFMS forecasts that average global HR coil prices in 2009 would be 35% below 2007 levels or $540/tonne. In fact, average prices were just below $520/tonne.
2. In terms of cyclical timing, it forecasts that global prices would bottom in Q1 and rise in Q2 before declining in Q3 as excess supply swamped weak demand. While this describes Chinese prices, the rest of the world did not hit a trough until Q2, prices rose in Q3 and then dropped again. Nevertheless, it believes that the cycle right.
3. GFMS certainly would argue that its view that margins would not be enhanced due to excess capacity availability was the correct call, as was the view that prices would trade in a relatively narrow band for most of the year.
4. During the year, GFMS got somwhat ahead of itselves in Q3, when it argued that the cut in inventories was so signi.cant that prices would strengthen sharply. While there was some short-covering, which helped to propel prices higher, most distributors were rightly cautious of turning to additional inventory given weak demand and were happy to survive on hand-to-mouth consumption. Nevertheless, it would still argue that prices do have the potential to spike if demand comes back faster-than-expected given the low level of inventories.

GLOBAL COKE - Meeting the Energy needs of Indian Steel Industry
By Our News Bureau

ABSTRACT
Low Ash Metallurgical Coke or Met Coke, as it is popularly known, is a vital raw material in the steel-making process, acting as a melting agent, converting raw materials like iron ore to produce steel in the blast furnace route, which is the preferred way of steel-making in India. (One tonne of steel roughly requires 0.6 tonne of coke, which in turn, requires one tonne of metallurgical coal).

INDIAN IRON ORE FUTURE THE NEXT DECADE
By Our News Bureau

ABSTRACT
1. Next to Aluminum, Iron is the most widely distributed and abundant metal, consisting about 4.6% of the Earth’s crust.
2. The essential iron minerals which are commercially exploited are MAGNETITE (Fe3O4) containing 72.4% Fe, HAEMATITE (Fe2O3) containing 70% Fe, Goethite [FeO(OH)] containing 68.5% Fe, LIMONITE and the carbonates namely SIDERITE, CHALYBITE or SPATHIC IRON ORE, containing 48.3% Fe. Less important ores are the Sulphides, Pyrite, (FeS2), Pyrrhotite (Fe1-nS) and the complex oxide like Franklinite (FeZnMn) (FeMn)2O4.
3. In addition certain important iron ores are composed to some extent of Hydrous iron silicates, such as Chamosite, Thuringite, Greenalite and Glauconite.
4. Even though the iron content (Fe) of the mineral is a important factor, an equally important issue is type and proportion of gangue material present in the said mineral which may influence the metallurgical operations because of process of fluxing involved in separation of Iron metal from the gangue in the furnaces.

INDIA’S COAL SECTOR : PROSPECTS, CHALLENGES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
By Partha S Bhattacharyya, Chairman, Coal India Limited

ABSTRACT
With high rates of economic growth and over 15 percent of the world’s population, India has become a significant consumer of energy resources. The global financial crisis and credit crunch have slowed India’s economic growth particularly in the manufacturing sector, and GDP growth rates have also declined from 9.3 percent in 2007 to 7.1 percent in the fiscal ended March 31. Interestingly, despite a recent slowing economy, India’s energy demand continues to increase. The country’s ability to secure a reliable supply of energy resources in a sustainable manner and at affordable prices will be one of the most important factors in shaping its future growth prospects.

Interview Mr Jitendra Sharma, Director, Steamline Industries Ltd.

Making Coke for Indian Blast Furnaces with Less Imported Coal
By P. Roy Chowdhury, Ex Chief Metallurgist, Durgapur Steel Plant, SAIL

ABSTRACT
On December 4, 1958, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, replying to a question, said in the Rajya Sabha that India was not fighting capitalism, communism or any other ism but “we are fighting and struggling to achieve our own objectives”. While declaring the Indian Science Policy, he said that India could reduce the differences between the western and developed world only by successful advancement in the science research. Though the Indian population is 18% of the world population, the expenditure allotted in the scientific research is less than 2%. In the US there are on an average 100 scientific publications per one lakh population. On the contrary, in India, it is only 2 scientific publication per one lakh population. These clearly indicate that even after 50 years of freedom we could not fulfill the dreams of our first Prime Minister.
The activities undertaken till now by the steel companies are mostly around productivity improvements, energy conservation, beneficiation of raw materials and new product developments. In the current year also the same trend continues. We even fail to perform these works efficiently for the reason that we have to rely on foreign coal to improve our iron production. The domestic steel manufacturers also have been found to be spending extremely small amounts for R&D activities. According to data on R&D spending provided by the three big steel makers during April-September 2008, SAIL has invested Rs.69.11 crore under R&D and Tata Steel Rs.35 crore. Still today we depend on the research and achievements of other countries, whether it is new or an improvement on the existing one, and pay an extra cost.