India's Ministry of Steel has issued an order making it mandatory, effective as of September 2012, for all long steel products to conform to specifications prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), while products will have to carry the standard markings.
"The aim is to ensure quality of long steel products like bars, rods and wires. Many producers in the induction furnace industry do not follow quality standards. These will have to upgrade their facilities and the required investment would not be too high," a senior official from the Ministry of Steel told SteelOrbis on Thursday, June 7.
However, the secondary steel industry considers that the move would force many small units, particularly induction furnace units, to close down since the costs of adhering to BIS standards would be too high.
"The smaller induction units are not able to maintain standards, particularly related to phosphorous and sulphur, due to the low quality of scrap or sponge iron available in the domestic market," said a representative from the All India Induction Furnace Association.
The association has sought more time to implement the mandatory specifications since the technology for controlling phosphorous and sulphur content in steel production from scrap or sponge iron has not been readily available and small induction furnaces would require time and money to import the appropriate technology.
According to data available from the Ministry of Steel, there are about 1,074 induction furnace units in the country with a total installed capacity of 22.18 million mt per year.