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A part of the O. P. Jindal Group, JSL Stainless Ltd.(formerly JSL Limited) is India’s largest and the country’sonly fully integrated stainless steel manufacturer. JSLStainless has grown from an indigenous single-unitstainless steel plant in Hisar, Haryana, to the presentmulti-location and multi-product conglomerate.

JSL Stainless is a globally recognised producer ofstainless steel flat products in austenitic, ferritic,martensitic and duplex grades. Its product rangeincludes ferro alloys, stainless steel slabs and blooms,hot-rolled coils, plates, cold-rolled coils and specialtyproducts such as razor blade steel, precision strips andcoin blanks. JSL Stainless has initiated strategic growthplans in both domestic and international markets andhas made investments towards capacity expansionsthrough forward and backward integration.

Driven by its focus on sustained growth and valueaddition in its products and services, JSL Stainless hasled the way with continuous innovation. JSL Stainlesshas established an extensive distribution network throughits service centres and warehouses in both domesticand overseas market and is well equipped to serve itscustomers from its stainless steel manufacturing facilitiesat Hisar and Orissa.

Through a carefully planned expansion, the Hisar planthot rolling capacity has been increased to 7,80,000tonnes per annum. Further, the cold rolling complex hasincreased its production capacity to 275,000 tonnes perannum of cold rolled stainless steel flat products. Thecomplex consists of plate annealing and pickling facilitiesalong with shot blasting, straightening and levellingequipment to produce stainless steel plates of variousgrades.

While continuing to manufacture world-class stainlesssteel flat products in austenitic, ferritic, martensitic andduplex grades to develop and maintain its leadershipposition in Cr-Mn 200 series, company is now lookingbeyond conventional products. Its new focus is on

JSL STAINLESS - Shining with Renewed SynergyJSL Stainless Ltd., INDIA

providing feasible solutions by developing new productseries such as Krome16+ to counter the challenges ofescalating raw material cost.

Odisha Greenfield ProjectAs part of the massive expansion plans acrosslocations, JSL Stainless is setting up a single locationfully integrated stainless steel plant at Odisha. The 1.6Mtpa greenfield project envisages complete integrationfrom mining to cold rolling, along with 500MW captivepower plant.

Upon completion of plans, the Odisha plant wouldachieve a capacity of 1.6 Mt, and along with theexpansion at Hisar would propel the company into thetop league of leading stainless steel producers in theworld, with 2.5 Mtpa capacity.

INDONESIAPT Jindal Stainless IndonesiaThe company had also established its foothold in theSouth East Asian and ASEAN market with the acquisitionof a stainless steel cold rolling plant in the year 2004.The plant’s initial capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annumhas since been increased to 150,000 tonnes per annum..

Specialty Product Division and Service CentresJSL Stainless’s Specialty Product Division is rolling outprecision cold rolled strips upto 0.076 mm thickness foruse in razor blades. With a capacity of 25,000 tonnesper annum, this complex mainly processes martensiticstainless steel to be used in razor blade manufacturingand supplies to leading Indian and Internationalmanufacturers. JSL Stainless is also the largest providerof coin blanks to the Government of India mint. Thepresent installed capacity of the coin blank unit is 10,000tonnes per annum.

To synergise the need for customised products andservices, the company has made a foray into the servicecentre industry. Jindal Stainless Steelway Limited, in

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collaboration with Steelways s.r.l. Italy, providescustomised products and distribution services instainless steel to meet specific requirements of slitting,cut to length, for the customers across consumerdurables, automotive segments and OEMs.

Four service centres in India viz. Gurgaon, Mumbai,Vadodara and Chennai are in operation and one largerservice centre at Jajpur, Orissa will soon be operational.

Iberjindal S.L., SpainIt also operates one service centre in Spain. This servicecentre Iberjindal S.L., is a joint venture between JSLStainless Ltd. and Fagor Industrial and is located in SouthSpain.

Customised productsApart from all the regular grades produced, JSL StainlessLtd. has developed the capability to supply customisedproducts for critical applications like those in the nuclearindustry. Niobium stabilised special grade austeniticstainless steel was developed for critical componentsto be used in steam and gas turbines and other enginecomponents. This has helped customers in theirindigenisation efforts.

Other Areas of ApplicationsJSL Stainless Ltd. is also providing its stainless steelfor car exhaust systems and auto gas cylinders, a sectorwhich has a lot of potential. Other sectors which seegrowing use of stainless steels are sugar industry, dairy,distillery and brewery plants, architecture, building andconstruction, automotive, power, Railway and transportsector and designer-wares.

Forms AvailableThe various forms that the Company produces for theabove-mentioned grades are as follows:

Slabs: Cast in single strand slab caster of steel meltshop.

Hot-Rolled Products

HR Coils: As-cast/ground slabs are first heated andsoaked in reheating furnace, rolled in roughing mill tointermediate thickness and then to the final thicknessin the steckel mill.

HRAP Coils: Hot-rolled annealed pickled coils areproduced after continuous annealing and pickling.

HRAP Plates: No. 1 finish plates are produced afterannealing and pickling or by cutting hot-rolled annealedpickled coils to desired lengths.

Cold-Rolled ProductsCold-rolled coils and sheets are produced after beingprocessed in the 20 Hi Mill, continuous anneal and pickleline, skin pass mill, slitting line and cut-to-length lines.Absolute flat sheets are produced after being put throughthe Voss leveler. Sheets and cold-rolled coils areavailable in different finishes 2D, 2B, No. 3, No. 4 andBA.

Touching Lives Everyday, EverywhereFrom sunrise to the time we call it a day, stainless steelis in touch with us, in some way or the other. Be it theglass of juice after a clean shave or queuing up in acontemporary bus shelter while making our way towork, there is a hint of stainless steel in everythingwe come into contact with. Stainless steel, alreadythe world’s most versatile material, is now on the vergeof crossing the barrier of all conventional applications.The company has been working towards highlightingthis wonder material to perform wonders in increasinglyvaried ways.

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Global Stainless Steel ScenarioThe global stainless steel production remained stagnantfrom 2004.However, the production increasedsignificantly in 2010 to over 30 Mt. (Fig. 1)

India – A Driver of Stainless Steel GrowthN.C. Mathur

JSL Stainless Ltd, INDIA

Source: ISSF Source: Metal Bulletin Research

Fig.2 : Global stainless steel production : Forecasts

The trend is expected to continue in 2011 as seenincreased production in the first two quarters of 2011.The forecast for the next few years upto 2018 is shownin Fig.2.

Fig. 1: Global stainless steel production

Asia’s production forecast is now something different, as China is coming up with huge capacities. The worldproduction figure got a boost only because of surge in China’s production capacity during the last few years. Thepercentage share of China in the world has gone up from about 26% in 2007 to current 37.5% as shown in Fig.3.

Fig.3: World stainless steel production share (2007 – 2011e)Source: Tex Report

1 2

3 4 5

1 - 20072 - 20083 - 20094 - 20105 - 2011(e)

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Stainless Steel : A Growing Material over the Last30 Years (1980 – 2010)Historically, stainless steel growth was much strongerthan carbon steel growth, a fact that led to perceptionthat stainless steel was different and immune to woesof ordinary steel (Fig.4)

Fig. 4: Growth rate of different materialsover the last 30 years

Source: ISSF

Global Stainless Steel DemandFigure 5 shows the demand growth from 2000 onwards.Obviously, the growth rate in case of China is muchsteeper and there is stagnancy in case of developedcountries.

Fig.5: Global stainless steel demand

Source: Heinz H. Pariser

Global Stainless Steel RecoveryIn 2010, world stainless steel Industry has recovered,but China accounts for all the growth since 2000. CAGRis much higher in case of China (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Country-wise share of stainless steelproduction in last 10 years

Source: ISSF

Stainless Steel Production Growth (2000 – 2010)Most of the stainless steel production growth during thelast decade is attributable to S200 and S400. There isdecline of S300 in all regions of the world outside China(Fig. 7)

Fig. 7: Grade-wise production growth of stainless steel (Mt)Source: ISSF

Stainless Steel Consumption by RegionGDP and stainless steel consumption per capita (2009)is shown in Fig. 8.There is a strong correlation betweenthe two except S. America.

Fig. 8: Relationship between GDP and per capitastainless steel consumption in selected countries

Mill

ion

tonn

es o

f cru

de s

teel

Source: ISSF

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Figure 9 shows the ‘Top 10’ stainless steel markets (93%of total market). China is by far No. 1(about 40%) of thestainless steel market. India is No. 3 in the world.

Fig. 9: ‘Top 10’ stainless steel markets

Source: Steel & Metals Market Reserach

China Stainless Steel UpdateChina could have 2.5 Mt of stainless steel surplus in2011. Crude stainless steel output in China will rise by13% to 14 Mt in 2011. Consumption of stainless steelin China will increase to 11.5 Mt in 2011.This has resultedin a surplus of 2.5 Mt.

China’s crude stainless capacity has expanded rapidly,rising to some 19 Mt at the end of year 2010. China’sstainless steel capacity is predicted to reach 21 Mt bythe end 2011.

Indian Stainless ScenarioThere is mainly growth of 200 series and marginally incase of 300 series (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10 :India : Stainless steel production (2007 – 2010)

Source: Heinz H. Pariser

1

2

3

1 - Austenitic2 - Chrome-

ManganeseSeries

3 - Ferritic

India : Macro Economic OverviewProjected GDP growth for next 5 years is 8-9%. Overallsteel consumption is to grow 1.2 times GDP. Plannedinfrastructure investment for 12th. Five year plan(2012-17) is at UD$ 900 billion.

India : SS Growth Drivers

● Railways

● Architectural building and construction, airports

● Industrial—power, process, industries

● Automotives, white goods.

SS in Railways

• New stainless steel wagons and coaches

• Refurbishing railway stations with world classfacilities

• Development of Metro Rail projects and streetinfrastructure

• Railway stations: Cladding, roofing, structures,decorations, selling carts, display boards, ticketingarea, seating space, floor tiles, etc.

SS in ABC

• Urban renewal in the form of street furniture e.g.bus shelters

• Shopping malls, organised retail is growing at rapidpace.

• Modular kitchens

• Airports

New-age Applications in Household

Kitchen applications:

• Bathroom accessories

• White goods

• Lifestyle products

• Interior decoration

Airports

Wall cladding, roofing, check in area, seating,Immigration area, railings, display boards, lounge, dutyfree area, signage, decorative, elevators, travelators,food courts, etc.

SS in Industrial Applications

Industrial applications

• Power

• Process industry

SS in Auto and White Goods

• Increase usage of stainless steel in exhaust, wheelrims, etc.

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• Large middle class driving white goods market.

• India a leading automobile hub in S. Asia, especiallyfor two wheelers and small cars.

SS in Automobiles

Many parts of a modern car are now made of stainlesssteel such as exhaust manifolds, convertor, tail pipe,muffler, wheel cap, etc. The growth prospects of variousautomobiles is shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 11: Indian automotive : growth prospects

• India destined as a major automotive hub in South Asia.

• A large manufacturing base for two wheelers / smallcars / steel and stainless steel components forautomobiles.

Future Application AreasApplications - arriving shortly (India)• Bus body • LPG cylinder • Cycle rim • Plumbing •Hospital furniture • Water tanks • Modular toilets in trains

Challenges Ahead• Inadequate infrastructure – energy, logistics, ports

etc. not conducive to growth of manufacturing sector• Infrastructure projects subject to delays and financial

constraints• Budget constraints vs life cycle benefits of stainless

steel• Dependence on imports for certain raw material –

nickel, SS scrap, molybdenum

Changes In the Market PlaceMovements In environment• RM price fluctuations ( Ni, Cr, Scrap )• Grade / series substitution in industry• Standardisation ( e.g. Ikea/Whirlpool/Electrolux

moving to 400 series )

Price

There is too much of stainless steel raw material pricevolatility as shown in Fig. 12(a).

1 2 3 4

4

32

1

Fig.12(a): Raw material : price volatility since 1990

Source: Metalytics

Nickel (key raw material for stainless steel) trades overa wider price range than other base metals. Over thelast 10 years, raw materials’ prices and volatility haveincreased tremendously. In addition, there is verysignificant increase in volatility after 2004 (Fig. 12b).

Fig. 12(b): Evolution of Fe, Cr, Ni over the last decade, (%)Source: ISSF

SUMMING UP

Indian stainless steel market is charecterised by:• SS production will go upto 4 million tonnes by 2015.• Overcapacity in the market and export boost up.• Double digit growth in SS consumption ( 10-12%).

(Growth in SS consumption is about 1.2 times GDP)

• New applications will emerge very fast.

• Opportunities for business in downstream industries

• SS will change the face of India.

However constraints will persist:

• Increase in cost of energy, labour, electrodes,refractories.

• Increase in prices of raw materials like Fe, Ni, Cr,Mo, etc.

*Excerpts form the paper presented by the author at the 6th Asian Stainless Steel Conference7-9 June, 2011 held at Shanghai, China.

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Men that Matter–Ratan JindalA dynamic young leader making India Shine withStainless Steel

Mr. Ratan Jindal is the Vice Chairman and ManagingDirector of JSL Stainless Ltd., India’s largest and fullyintegrated stainless steel conglomerate. A dynamic andfocused leader, Mr Ratan Jindal has successfully steeredJSL Stainless to be India’s largest producer of stainlesssteel and among the top 15 in the world.

A Commerce Graduate and alumnus of the WhartonSchool of Management with over 26 years experiencein the stainless steel industry, Mr. Ratan Jindal’s focushas been on producing value-added stainless steelproducts, in line with the global best and has envisionedJSL Stainless to be among top 10 global stainless steelplayers in the next two years with the commissioning ofthe 1.6 million tonne stainless steel plant at KalingaNagar in Odisha. He has been instrumental in settingup the Jindal Stainless Design Centre for promoting theusage of stainless steel in special applications forLifestyle, Value-added industrial segments and inarchitecture, building and construction sectors.

Mr. Ratan Jindal is on the Board of the InternationalStainless Steel Forum (ISSF), a forum established tofocus on the development of stainless steel worldwideand is currently the Chairman of the Economics &Statistics Committee of ISSF. He is a member of US-based Young President’s Organisation and is also amember of CII, FICCI, PHDCCI, World Steel, IndianStainless Steel Development Association. Besides JSLStainless Ltd. Mr. Ratan Jindal is a Director in JindalSteel & Power Limited.

Apart from being an astute businessman, Mr.RatanJindal is also committed to Corporate SocialResponsibility and Inclusive Management and isinstrumental in supporting quality education andcommunity welfare causes. Under his initiative, JSLStainless was the first company to institute a ResearchChair for Stainless Steel at National Institute of Design,Ahmedabad. JSL Stainless Foundation, OP JindalEngineering & Management Scholars, Stainless

Innovation Awards, Vidya Devi Jindal School, OP JindalModern School and Jindal Institute of Medical Sciencesare a few initiatives of Mr. Ratan Jindal towards CSRand community welfare. A keen golfer, Mr. Ratan Jindalalso takes interest in tennis and cricket.

In an exclusive interview with ‘Steel Tech’, Mr. RatanJindal gave his views on different aspects of the currentstainless steel industry in India and the future potential.

What is the history behind starting of a stainlesssteel production facility at Hisar by Mr. O. P. Jindal?

JSL Stainless Ltd., is the flagship Company of the O.P.Jindal Group, which has its roots in Hisar and wasincorporated in the year 1970 with the initial vision ofmanufacturing mild steel products. In 1980 JSLStainless, backed by in-house R&D and indigenouslydeveloped technology, took the initiative of stainlesssteel production in the private sector. Today we standas the largest and the only fully integrated stainless steelmanufacturer in the country.

JSL has been a pioneer in producing chrome-manganese-based (low-nickel 200 series) stainlesssteel. How has it helped penetration of this grade inIndia and potential in other countries?

Well, the stainless steel fraternity is aware of the factthat JSL Stainless has been instrumental in commercialdevelopment and popularising the Cr-Mn series ofstainless steel worldwide. In 1980’s when our countrywas struggling on the front of foreign exchange reserves,JSL Stainless took the initiative of reducing ourdependence on imports of nickel (which is the costliestingredient in making stainless steel), by successfulcommercialisation of the 200 series. Currently, ourglobally popular 200 series grades J1 (JSL-AUS) andJ4 use only 4% and 1% nickel respectively, as against10% and 8% in 316 and 304 respectively. Over theperiod, we have helped our customers through our R&Dto successfully replace high nickel grades with the 200

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series stainless steel in a variety of applications. Ourphilosophy has always been that the resources givenby the Mother Nature are valuable and hence, should beused judiciously.

You are building a totally new integrated stainlesssteel making facility at Jajpur. Besides, being oneof the largest such plants in India, what will be thespecial features?

The Greenfield project of JSL Stainless in Jajpur,Odisha, has state-of-the-art manufacturing withtechnologically advanced melting, hot rolling and coldrolling facilities. This plant will be one of the most costcompetitive plants with close proximity to the rawmaterial, strategic location near ports and backwardintegration with ferro alloys and captive power plant. Inaddition, we are in the process of setting up of a stainlessSteel Park with several downstream stainless steelprocessing facilities. This end-to-end integration is aunique concept in stainless steel manufacturing and willhelp in socio-economic development of the state. Thisreinforces our philosophy of highest value addition tothe minerals.

What is the present consumption in India and howdo you see the future prospects of stainless steel inIndia?

The present annual consumption of stainless steel inIndia is in excess of 2 million tonnes. Currently, about70% of this consumption is in the kitchenware andutensils segment. However, as India’s GDP grows withincreasing investments in infrastructure and consumerspending in real estate, automotive and consumerdurable sectors, we envisage that these growing sectorswill form a larger share of consumption of stainless steelin our country. This would be in line with the stainlesssteel consumption pattern globally.

In view of large deposits of chromium in the country,what is your take on the competitiveness of Indianstainless steel industry vis-a-vis its global peers?

The anti-corrosion properties of stainless steel are dueto presence of chromium, which makes steel, stainless.It is worth mentioning that stainless steel is the highestvalue added product to chrome ore. It is estimated thatIndia has about 1-2% of global chrome deposits. Indiais amongst the two countries worldwide, which has both,chrome ore and a sizeable stainless steel industry.However, most of the chrome deposits in India arecontrolled by the state. Therefore, with some positiveinterventions of the Government, the Indian stainlesssteel industry will be able to derive the benefits of thesechrome reserves through substantial value addition.

There is a big opportunity for the Indian stainless steelindustry to be globally most competitive.

What are your views on import of stainless steel inIndia?

Stainless steel import is fairly large in India. Of late, wehave observed substantial increase in imports especiallyfrom China. Russia has proposed to impose anti dumpingduties between 29.9 % and 39.1% for 5 years on someChinese nickel containing stainless steel. Indianstainless steel industry also looks forward to similarmeasures from our Government.

In your opinion, what the Government should do toboost consumption of stainless steel in India?

Stainless steel is a green and hygienic and aestheticmetal having life cycle cost much lesser than most ofthe other metals usually used around us. The consumersare realising its benefits and we are seeing increasedusage of stainless steel in various applications in ourdaily life. I am happy that the Planning Commission hasallocated 1 trillion dollar for the infrastructure sector forthe 12th Five Year Plan. Stainless steel consumptionwill grow in sectors such as automotive, transport,architecture, building and other constructions.Expansion of the Metro Rail Project in Delhi and othercities for next several years will also help in increasingthe usage of stainless steel in coming years. Besidesthis, Government should also take initiatives to promotestainless steel usage where hygiene is critical such as

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Mr. Sushim Banerjee — Recipient of Core CreatorAwards 2011

We take pride that Mr. Sushim Banerjee, DirectorGeneral, INDSAG and an Editorial Board Member of‘Steel Tech’ has been honoured by the ‘Core SectorCommuniqué’ journal for excellence in his field ofoperation, i.e., promotion of steel usage in new areasand penetrating into the rural market.

In a glittering function organised for the first time by ajournal at Park Hotel, Kolkata on 18th June, Core CreatorAwards were handed over to some of the mostdistinguished personnel in their fields of operation inwhich they have excelled. Mr. Sushim Banerjee thankedthe organiser, especially the Editor of ‘Core SectorCommuniqué’, Mr. Suvobrata Ganguly, for organisingsuch a function for the first time by a journal to recognisedistinguished personnel in Kolkata.

Mr. Banerjee is a Post Graduate in Economics fromPresidency College, Kolkata. He had obtained PostGraduate Diploma in Business Management from AllIndia Management Association, New Delhi. He has alsoundergone training for industrial research at FordhamUniversity, New York in 1988.

As Executive Director (Commercial), SAIL, New Delhi,Mr. Banerjee was associated with working out strategiesand policies of the Marketing Organisation of thecompany. He presented case studies at 9th CorporateUniversity Week at Orlando, Florida, USA during Nov’07.

Our Pride

and was awarded the First Runner Up Prize in thecompetition contested by 25 Corporate Universities.

Mr. Banerjee is the Member of National Committee onSteel of both CII and FICCI.

He is presently working as Director General, Institutefor Steel Development & Growth (INSDAG) at Kolkata.He is endevouring to promote steel consumption in thecountry by making innovative and cost-effective steelbased structural designs.

Our hearty congratulation to Mr. Sushim Banerjee forthis recognition.

plumbing, water tanks, hospitals, street furniture, publicutilities, food related applications etc.

Since applications of stainless steel is increasingin building / industrial structures, what do you feelyour role as a market leader to increase theconsumption of stainless steel in the country?

JSL Stainless especially in the last decade, has takenvarious initiatives to promote applications of stainlesssteel in India. In line with this, JSL has established itssubsidiaries such as JSL Lifestyle Ltd. and JSLArchitecture Ltd. to showcase various applicationsrelated to lifestyle and architecture respectively. Inaddition, JSL has set up stainless steel service centresthrough its subsidiary JSSL, for a country widedistribution network in India. Our four service centres inIndia viz. Gurgaon, Mumbai, Vadodara and Chennai arein operation and one in Jajpur, Odisha will soon be

operational. These provide customised products anddistribution services to the consumers of stainless steelon just-in-time basis.

What are your plan for increasing the per capitaconsumption of stainless steel in India?

A collaborative effort between the Government and theindustry is essential for increasing the consumption ofstainless steel. We expect economic growth of India tobe one of the highest in coming years. There is a strongco-relation of stainless steel consumption with GDP. Inaddition, with increased spending in infrastructure andimproved logistics in the country, the cost of ownershipfor the consumers of stainless steel is bound to comedown. The per capita consumption of stainless steel inIndia is way below world average and we are positive ofa strong per capita consumption growth from current1.4 kg to 4 kg, which is the world average.