The Hindu Business Line : No change in Alloy Steel Plant's scrap iron imports

EVEN as all scrap iron importers are under a national scanner for having brought in explosives, the Durgapur-based Alloy Steel Plant (ASP) is sitting cool and will continue to import the material.

This is the result of the decision taken by the ASP management some time back to import only shredded scrap iron, which rules out any possibility of importing explosive stuff.

ASP, which is a division of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and a producer of speciality steel products, solely depends on scrap iron as the only raw material. A few months back, the plant was forced to import scrap iron from Europe because of a sharp scarcity of the material in the domestic market.

ASP has already imported 1,000 tonnes of scrap iron and is in the process of importing another 6,000 tonnes through the Metal & Scrap Trading Corporation Ltd. A senior ASP official said that the consignments were imported into India after following all the necessary guidelines.

"Shredded scrap iron is a costlier material. Still, we opted for it because it rules out all possibilities of bringing in the kind of stuff that is being experienced in several factories all over India. Moreover, we are buying from well-known companies, whose reputations are extremely high. They would not export such material," sources in ASP said.

ASP is also using some pig iron for steel production, which is being sourced from the Orissa-based Neelachal Ispat. Industry sources said that shortage of scrap iron would continue to increase in India because domestic steel producers are constantly trying to improve their efficiency by reducing scrap generation.

Even so, ASP is trying to reduce its dependence on scrap iron. "Ultimately, ASP will have to go in for its own hot metal production and it will opt for the direct reduced iron process. In the finishing section, it will produce long products of stainless steel. The main idea is to make ASP self-sufficient on all fronts," sources said.

ASP's capacity for liquid steel production is 246,000 tonnes a yearand its saleable steel capacity is 187,000 tonnes a year.