ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AM/NS) India is looking to give a boost to its automotive steel business with the scheduled commissioning of two production lines dedicated to manufacturing advanced automotive steel products.
The new lines – a Continuous Galvanising Line (CGL) and a Continuous Galvanising and Annealing Line (CGAL), are expected to be fully operational by March, a top company official said.
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These two facilities will be part of the upcoming Cold Rolling Mill 2 (CRM2) complex at its flagship plant in Hazira, Gujarat, which has been developed with an estimated investment of Rs 8,500 crore.
The two units will enable the production of ArcelorMittal as well as Nippon Steel’s licensed products, with strength levels of up to 1,180 Megapascals (MPa), in both coated and uncoated steel.
Once operational, the production of the two units will substitute imports of high-end steel required by the entire automotive sector. Some of the offerings currently available globally will also be manufactured for the first time in India.
Speaking to FE, Ranjan Dhar, director and vice-president of sales and marketing, AM/NS said, “We are having a share of 13-14% of the automotive segment in India and to increase this we are setting up a new line at Hazira.”
The company already has a sizeable presence in the commercial vehicle and yellow goods segment, he added.
Passenger vehicle steels are more coated and more cold rolled and are considered to be advanced steel than other automotive grade steels. “There is premiumisation happening in the PV segment and this needs different kinds of steel. With this commissioning, there will be hardly any need for any imports. The steel that Tesla uses will be supplied to India,” Dhar added.
AM/NS’s expansion aims to meet the growing demand for high-quality, value-added automotive steel in India, which currently stands at 7.8 million tonne per annum (MTPA) for flat steel and is projected to grow 6-7% annually.
The share of automotive within AM/NS India operations is 13-14% as 60-65% goes to the construction and infrastructure segment. Tata Steel and JSW Steel dominate the automotive steel space in India.
With the coming on stream of these two new production lines by AM/NS at Hazira,
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