Surana Industries Limited

Global Steel Industry

Global steel production has now crossed the 1 billion tonne mark due to an upturn in steel demand during the last two years on the back of recovery in the global economy. The recovery has largely been led by increased demand for steel in China as the country focuses on strong infrastructure led growth and prepares for Olympics 2008. There has also been partial recovery in key sectors such as housing, construction and automobiles in the USA and Europe and the Japanese economy is also promising to turn around after a prolonged phase of recession.

But at the backdrop of this recovery has been one of the most turbulent phases for the global steel industry. The industry went through one of its most difficult phases between 1997 and 2001, as it faced severe recession in the global economy leading to imbalance between capacity, demand and production.

Pushed to the wall, in 2001 advanced countries were forced to call for a global agreement organized by the OECD to limit the world output of steel and stem the slide in steel prices. Only in 2002 the global steel industry witnessed a turnaround led by growth in China and prices of steel recovered to realistic levels once again.

Another important development in the global steel market in the last few years has been the emergence of steel intensive technologies in various user industries leading to increased usage of steel. The consumption is showing a shift from long products to flat products and special quality steels.

Global steel trade has now increased to 350 MT. The industry though continues to be fragmented with top 5 players accounting for less than 20% of the total industry capacity. Global steel manufacturers are increasingly realizing the need to have alliances and consolidation activity haspicked up all over the world during the last 2-3 years. Today, Arcelor (Europe) is the largest producer of steel in the world followed by LNM-Ispat Group, Nippon Steel, JEE Holdings, Posco and Shanghai.

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Indian Steel Industry

If we were to pause for a moment to think about the growth of human civilization, we would find that the pace of social and economic growth has been closely linked to the proficiency with which people have been able to use and shape materials.

Steel is one such material that has played an important role in the development of mankind in the last century. Today, it is difficult to imagine a world without steel. Steel has become vital to our everyday life. It is at the root of the quality of life that each of us enjoys today, helping to shelter us, to feed us and to facilitate both our working day and leisure activities. We depend on steel for almost everything from our houses and buildings, the cars we drive, roads, bridges, agricultural equipment, machines, the list is endless.

Steel is a versatile, constantly developing material that underpins all manufacturing activity. Even if a product is not made entirely from steel, it will undoubtedly have steel as a component at some point in the manufacturing process. There are currently more than 3,500 different grades of steel with many different properties - physical, chemical, environmental, 75% of which have been developed in the last 20 years. Steel is also an environment friendly material and has the distinction of being the most recycled material in the world today.

Today, consumption of steel is also regarded as an indicator of development of a nation. Per capita steel consumption is now universally accepted as an index of economic development of a nation. Given its role, steel has established itself as the backbone of any economy.

The steel industry in India has always been on the ascent, owing to the abundant availability of rawmaterials like iron ore, limestone and coal, besides relatively cheap labour, which is a major cost advantage. It is noteworthy to mention that India is the sixth largest producer of iron ore and the tenth largest producer of crude steel in the world. Steel is a core sector industry and the demand for steel affects the economy of the country.

Periodic researches and surveys have produced highly optimistic results. The demand for steel is growing and will continue to grow in leaps and bounds. The cross-cultural influence on India is getting pronounced, as a result of which a more enhanced lifestyle is on the cards. With cities getting wider and mini townships mushrooming all over, the real estate industry will keep booming, and hence the demand for steel will only keep getting higher in the years to come. The consistent need for steel will also be form sectors like automobiles, consumer durables and infrastructure.

National Steel Policy 2005 envisages steel consumption in the country to go up from 37 million tones presently to 110 million tones by 2020.

Above all, the per capita consumption of steel in India is at around 27 kg, which is well behind the global average of 120 kg. With other Asian countries like China (87 kg), Malaysia (405 kg) and South Korea (925 kg) having a higher per capita consumption, India's growth potential promises to be undisputedly good.

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Steel Manufacturing

Surana Industries Limited possesses a fully integrated state-of-the-art steel manufacturing plant at Gummidipoondi, Chennai. The unit is complete with the following facilities:

• Induction Furnace for the manufacturing of Mild Steel Ingots from Heavy Metal Scrap

• Steel plant for rolled products from Mild Steel Ingots and Billets (from 6mm to 36mm diameter)

• Hot rolled products like cold Twisted Deformed (CTD) bars, TOR Steel, Thermo-Mechanically Treated (TMT) bars (known as Surana TMT), Mild Steel Wires, MS Structurals and Angels etc.

• Cold Rolled Items

Surana Industries manufactures High Strength Deformed Steel bars (approved by Bureau of Indian Standards association), Thermo Mechanically treated bars known as SURANA TMT, CRS Reinforcing bars, Cold Twisted Deformed bars, Mild Steel Rounds and Mild Steel Structurals. The plant has an installed capacity to produce per annum 30,000 tonnes of mild steel ingots, and 1,09,800 tonnes of CTD bars and TMT bars.

Modernization

Surana Industries Limited is one of the major TMT (thermo mechanically treated) bars manufacturer located in Chennai and sourced Eurotherm DEL India Limited to modernize their plant located at Gummidipoondi around 45KM from chennai.

Highlights Of The Automation

• Complete line automation
• Complete delivery starting from 11 KV VCB, 3150 KVA dual secondary transformer, PLC, MCC, drive panels, DC Motors and field instruments.
• Cut - to- length through PLC
• SHTTL for phase lock loop (PLL) for flying shear control
• High-speed Profibus network
• From concept to commissioning
• Build - in macros for diameter calculation, winder block, and cascade reference.
• Forward/ backward flying shear

Automation Process- Tmt Line

Surana TMT bars derive their strength from a controlled, in-line rapid water quenching process. Cooling is a process specifically developed to meet the demand for high-Strength steel reinforcement bars with high ductility. Directly after the last rolling stand, the bar passes to the cooling system and is subjected to a short intensive cooling of the surface. This leads to drastic reduction in surface temperature and surface hardening (martensite structure) whereas the core is largely unaffected. After leaving the cooling system, the exchange takes place whereby the core re-heats the surface, thus tempering the martensite. The thermal exchange is completed at the cooling bed and the resultant bar has a unique structure of tempered martensite at the periphery and a fine grain ferrite pearlite in the core. This provides the higher strength and ductility to the finished material.

Flying Shear

The finished material called as billet passed through number of "stands" to make Steel Rods of length & diameter as per customer's requirement, with typical steel processing speed of 5 to 10 meters per minute, which means the cutting has to be on online process without the need for stopping the steel rod. This is why flying shear mechanism is required which can cut the steel rods as the rod goes by.

The basic speed of the flying shear should be at least 10 to 15% more than the speed rod is moving. This higher speed makes sure that there is no strain on the shear blade and that the rod is pushed ahead after the cut is made. If the speed is less than or equal to the rod speed, the rod will bend at the time of cutting. If the speed is too much there will be strain on the shear itself leading to faster wear and tear of the shear.

The sequencing of the drive and shear is done using a PLC. The PLC takes input of the limit switches (or CAM switches) available in the shear to identify the position of the shear. The shear after the cut is made should return to its parking position. Every time the shear comes into action, it should return to its original position, also called as the "parking" position. The shear is usually started when the PLC detects the presence of steel rod fixed for a batch and hence from the two delay between cuts can be calculated.

To simplify configuration and testing, Surana adopted a fully engineered and tested application along with operator displays, trending, and alarming and user-centric security systems for automation.

Drives Designed For Systems

Surana adopted all designed drives to meet the exacting demands of the most complex and sophisticated multi - drive applications across a diverse range of industries. All the Macros used without the need for any additional hardware.

Surana's automation macros programming is a tremendously flexible control structure that allows an almost infinite combinations of user functions to be realized with ease. Each control function (an input, output, process PID for example) is represented as a software block that is freely interconnected to all other blocks to provide any desired action.

Infrared Thermometers

CF series of online pyrometers have been used in the TMT line by Surana Industries. CF series of Infrared Radiation Thermometers are compact, on-line instruments for non contact temperature measurement from 300 to 25000 C in applications such as secondary metals processing - hardening, forging, soldering and sintering - and many others with spectral response from 0.8 to 1.1mm(CF 100 series) or 1.45 to 1.8mm (CF 200 series), providing measurement of temperature which is relatively insensitive to variation in target surface emissivity. It has high accuracy digital signal processing system housed in rugged stainless steel. CF series thermometers may be configured from a PC via a serial interface and proprietary set - up software.

Process
Thermo Mechanical Treatment, or TMT, is a method that uses 'quenching and tempering' technology to produce steel bars that are enduring and powerful enough to withstand the toughest of conditions. TMT bars are also known as Quenched and Tempered rebars, with reference to the quenching and tempering processes that are involved in the making of the bars. The bars come in different lengths and can also be customized to required specifications. The production of quality TMT bar depends on three major factors - quality raw materials, a properly designed and automated mill, and a well-designed quenching and tempering technology.

To ensure superior quality TMT bar, Surana adopts a unique and highly refined process in the making of SURANA TMT bars. Heat treatment is rendered to the ribbed bars in during the production process involving thermal and mechanical procedures. However, the exclusivity of Surana's TMT process is the Quenching Box with a "Walking Rake Cooling" Bed.

The heated bars are passed through the cooling bed at a very high speed and are quenched by streams of cold water. The system here is such that no rod comes into contact with another, and hence there is no property transfer amongst the rods. This ensures that every rod is robust and is of much better quality.

Another significant advantage of using the Walking Rake Cooling Bed is that the rods are devoid of bends and come out absolutely straight. This results in the saving of labor cost and time.

The process results in cooling the surface of the heated rods, while natural cooling takes place for the inner portion. As the heat from the inside travels to the exterior of the bar, the steel is made stronger and hence becomes more reliable.

With Surana's TMT bars, the actual consumption come down by around 17% as compared to ordinary CTD bars leading to cost savings for builders.

The infrastructure advantage of Surana's fully integrated steel manufacturing plant is complete with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), where in the entire process is fully computerized. The means, the operations are faster and predictably accurate.

Surana believes in utilizing the benefits of technical innovations and modern infrastructure. Owing to this, the company had benefited in cost of production, savings and waste control. This has given the company a leading edge in the industry.

The modern facility of the manufacturing of TMT bars was added in the year 2003 by implementing a process involving an exclusive technology, Surana is able to produce TMT bars that are study, more efficient and more dependable. Being the only plant in the private sector in Southern India, Surana offers a good value addition to the industry by studying and employing global trends in TMT processes.

Superior TMT Process for better quality

Thermo mechanically treated bars, known as TMT bars, can be described as a high-strength steel having superior properties such as weldability, ductility and bendability meeting highest quality standards at domestic level.

Features

• Flexibility: TMT bars are most preferred over ordinary bars because of its flexible nature
• Enables welding: They have fine welding features.
• Bonding strength: External ribs running across the entire length of TMT bar give superior bonding strength between the bar and the concrete.
• Cost-effective: A high tensile strength and better elongation value gives you great savings. The actual consumption reduces by around 17% as compared to ordinary CTD bars leading to cost savings for builders.
• Resists fire: Withstands temperatures up to 5000 degrees Celsius.
• Resists corrosion: The TMT process gives the bar superior strength and good anti-corrosive properties.

The Expertise to excel

Surana Industries has a team of well-qualified and experienced professionals who have in-depth knowledge of the steel industry. Keeping abreast with the latest trends in steel manufacturing, the company constantly analyses the latest trends so as to adopt to new technologies.

To achieve its dream of creating high standards, Surana has the most committed and skilled workforce at every level of operation. Both the technical experts and the non-technical personnel are instrumental in sustaining superior quality.

It is a unified vision to excel that is present in one and all. The Company recognizes the contribution of each one of the employees and gives due encouragement.

Quality, above all else

Setting a high benchmark for itself, Surana Industries ceaselessly strives to sustain quality in every fact of its activity, be it in systems, in maintenance or in management. Continuous process enhancement is done to ensure optimal operational competence. Efforts are periodically taken to improve production efficiency through more automated functioning, upgrading of skills, and eliminating wastes.

Special emphasis is laid to promote best practices in installation, manufacturing, inspection and testing. There is an in-house chemical lab that tests raw materials for quality and also to make sure that the finished products have the desired composition. All these are oriented towards meeting stringent quality norms with a view to delivering high-class products.

At Surana Industries, quality is not just a buzzword. It is a driving force that propels an entire workforce to accomplish phenomenal results.

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Products

Surana offers Steel, can be described as a high-strength steel having superior properties such as weldability, ductility and bendability meeting highest quality standards at domestic level.

• MS Billets
• MS Ingots
• CTD Bars
• Ms Wires rods
• Ms Structural
• MS Rounds
• MS Angles
• MS Channels
• MS Beams
• MS Joist
• MS Flats
• MS Plate
• MS Square

SIL is an accredited / authorized conversion agent of SAIL for TMT BARS and has also entered into MOU with SAIL (Steel Authority of India Ltd.) & LTC (Long Term Contact) with RINL (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd.)