The Indian Institute of Metals - Delhi Chapter organized a Ferro Alloys Workshop on 01 May 2012 at their Chapter premises.

The following two presentations were made in the Workshop

Forty five representatives participated in the deliberations of the Workshop. They included representatives from: Tata Steel, M N Dastur & Co, Mecon, SAIL, Jindal Steel, Steel Furnaces Association, ECI, MOIL, Department of Steel and representatives from various Ferro Alloys Manufacturing Units.

The participants to the Workshop were welcomed by Shri S C Suri, Vice Chairman, IIM DC. Shri Suri briefed the participants about the various activities of IIM and the activities of IIM DC. Shri Suri also highlighted the theme and importance of the Ferro Alloys Workshop. An introduction to the Workshop was given by Shri K L Mehrotra, Vice Chairman, IIM DC. Shri G I S Chauhan, Joint Secretary IIM DC introduced the two speakers who made the presentations.

The presentation by Mr. Harman, Director (Technical), FACOR Alloys, on `Ferro Alloy Industry: Present Status and Future Outlook covered in detail an overview and perspective on Ferro Alloys Technology.

• Industry’s profile and expansion of the bulk Ferro Alloys industry
• Current status of the industry with production level and extent of imports and exports of different Ferro Alloys
• Availability of quality inputs
• Review of the technology adopted for production of different ferro alloys
• Challenges and opportunities in the Ferro Alloy sector

A special emphasis was made by Mr. Harman about the power and logistic constraints faced by the Ferro Alloy Industry. Mr. Harman also stated that the Ferro Alloy Industry is facing problems due to high prices of manganese and chrome ore, coal, coke and high energy tariff. There was a detailed question-answer session after the presentation by Mr. Harman.

In his presentation on Raw Material Resource base for manganese ore, chrome ore, ferro alloys Shri G P Kundargi, Director (Production & Planning), MOIL reviewed the following aspects

• India’s present and projected steel demand
• The raw material scenario for Iron Ore, Coking Coal and Manganese Ore
• Production details of Ferro manganese, Ferro Silicon, Ferro Chrome
• Import and export of major ferro alloys
• Projected demand of different raw materials and demand for ferro manganese, silico manganese, ferro silicon, ferro chrome in the 12th Five Year Plan.

Shri Kundargi’s presentation made specific recommendations in the following areas

• Increased focus and attention to ensure high rate of recovery of manganese from the ore by beneficiation and sintering process
• Need for undertaking extensive surveys by Geological Survey of India in order to identify new ore deposits for production of different ferro alloys

Full text of both the presentations were made available to the Workshop participants. The same can also be accessed above.

Dr. G.Mukherjee, former Vice Chairman (SAIL) made valuable observations about Ferro Alloys industry in India.

There were lively interactive comments made by the participants. A special mention need be made of the comments/observations made by Shri A C R Das, Industrial Adviser, Deptt. of Steel, Shri B D Jethra, Member EC, IIM DC, Shri P N Shali, Director, ECI, Shri K L Mehrotra, Vice Chairman IIM DC, Shri Anil Gupta, Chairman, IIM DC and several other participants.

Mementoes were presented to Mr. Harman, Mr. Kundargi and Dr. G Mukherjee by Shri Anil Gupta, Chairman IIM DC.

Vote of thanks was proposed by Shri V C Singhal, Secretary IIM DC.

The Workshop ended with a lunch hosted by IIM DC for the participants.