Ferrous Wheel

India’s ferro alloys industry being squeezed by weak demand, high power cost and difficulty in accessing local mineral resources.

- Madhumita Mookerji

The ferro alloys industry is one whose scales are unevenly weighed. While the ferro chrome industry seems to be doing fine, earning substantial revenues riding the stainless steel wave, all is not well with the ferro manganese players. The dichotomy in the story, perhaps, has to do with access to the basic input materials, policy short sightedness and the extent to which players can control the pricing mechanism.

The decade prior to 2007 was one characterized by mineral exports out of India. Then came the mantra of value-addition and India embarked on the same for an effective utilisation of resources. The country gradually became a success story in carbon steel over 2007-2017, reaching the 100 mt club in steel production and is well slated to become the second-largest steel producer next year. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of carbon steel production achieved in India is probably one of the highest by any country in this decade.

The growth in the stainless steel segment too has been quite phenomenal. Both consumption and production have grown at a CAGR of 8 percent over 2007-2017. With per capita consumption of steel and stainless steel still low compared to that of other countries, India can expect its ferro alloys industry to grow further, based on future demand.

Indian scenario

Indeed, the rising steel production presents a perfect platform for ferro alloy production in India and the same has grown in leaps and bounds in the recent past. India produces around 4-4.5 mt of manganese alloys and chrome alloys together per annum. If we want to put a perspective to the value this industry brings to the table, then it is almost a 50,000-crore market annually. In 201617, India’s total production capacity in ferro alloys was 5.15 mt.