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Steel bins and scaffoldings to uplift industry

Our Bureau

KOLKATA, Oct. 11

THE Union Steel Ministry and the Joint Plant Committee have together initiated steps aimed at facilitating increased consumption of steel, especially in construction and in the rural markets.

Stating this at a function held here today to mark the formal release of the `Performance Review of Iron & Steel for 2000-2001', Mr R.K. Prasannan, Development Commissioner for Iron & Steel, said steps were being taken to promote the use of steel in rura l areas.

Already, steel bins were being pushed -- in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Orissa -- for the purpose of storing foodgrains. The idea now is to promote more fabricators, finetune the supply chain and popularise the concept further.

Mr Prasannan said the move would go a long way in stemming the loss of foodgrains -- stated to be between 10 and 15 per cent every year -- on account of unscientific storage practices, besides facilitating increased consumption of steel in the domestic m arket. The steel bins were stated to be corrosion-resistant and have a lifespan of more than 30 years.

Steps have been initiated to increase the use of steel in construction activity, including that of flat products. Talks are being held with Indian Railways and the National Highway Authority with a view to persuading them to use more steel instead of con crete in construction work. Automotive makers are also being persuaded to buy more steel from domestic producers.

A proposal seeking to make steel scaffoldings mandatory in major cities and towns -- with a population of 500,000 and above -- has been submitted for the Centre's consideration. A 12-member panel has already been set up to delve into the issue of health hazards posed by the use of asbestos.

Mr Prasannan described steel as a ``mother industry'' and said that ``for one unit of direct employment in steel there are four units of employment in other industries.'' As such, it would be imperative to work for increased consumption of steel.

The Performance Review of Iron & Steel for 2000-2001 states that a total of 29.7 million tonnes of carbon steel has been produced during the year. Besides, production of stainless steel stood at 0.725 million tonnes, alloy steels at 1.75 million tonnes, pig iron at 3.3 million tonnes and sponge iron at 5.5 million tonnes.

Import of steel during the year came down to 1.4 million tonnes from 1.6 million tonnes the previous year. The steel industry faced difficult times owing to lower net price realisations and dumping from CIS countries, among others.

The rate of growth of finished steel stood at 7.7 per cent in 2000-2001 compared with 14 per cent recorded in the previous year. Apparent consumption of finished steel during the year under review increased six per cent to 26.6 million tonnes, up from 25 .1 million tonnes in 1999-2000.

On the exports front, India suffered on account of steep anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) imposed by the US. While 800,000 tonnes of HR coils were exported to the US in the first eight months of last fiscal, exports to the US dropped to 62 ,000 tonnes in the next six months thereafter on account of the steep AD and CVD.