IFAC 2019: Incisive Insights into Global Ferroalloys Industry

Eminent speakers from around the world gathered at the International Ferro Alloys Conference (IFAC 2019) held from 12 to 14 Sept'2019 in New Delhi. The conference was organized by the Indian Ferro Alloys Producers' Association (IFAPA) with SteelMint as the Marketing and Media Partner. Experts from across the globe including producers, traders, investors, leading academics, policy makers and industry veterans assembled on one platform to discuss the emerging opportunities in the Ferro Alloys industry. Spread over 3 days and 5 sessions, the conference was attended by 450 participants from 20 countries.

Manish Sarda, Chairman of IFAPA, in his welcome speech said that despite high power costs and various duties imposed on ore exports, Ferro alloy producers have performed well and India's market size is equivalent to USD5.63 billion. India is the largest seaborne exporter of Silico manganese, he said.

Union Minister of State for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste said there is immense opportunity for other countries to invest in the Indian steel sector. He said the government will do its best to address the challenges faced by the Indian Ferro Alloys industry and manufacturers should adopt environment-friendly practices.

Minister for Road Transport & Highways of India and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, who was unable to attend the conference due to health reasons, sent his message which was read out. India is one of the fastest growing economies and it is important to encourage foreign investments. India is already in 'Mission More', the message read, and it is important to save power and logistics costs. Gadkari encouraged producers to use waterways for logistics. Projects like building waterways across the Ganga are being worked on. This may help producers lower transportation costs.

The first session, comprising four speakers, was chaired by D B Sundaram, Principle Executive Officer, TATA Steel Ltd. William Purty, Chief of Marketing and Sales Integration, TATA Steel, said in the next decade China's steel consumption is expected to decline as the economy shifts from being investment-driven to consumption-driven, whilst most of the global growth is expected to be determined by India, the ASEAN and MENA regions. He said the National Steel Policy targets 300MnT of steel capacity by 2030.

Hill Summer, CEO of Million Link, China, spoke on China's steel industry and the raw materials scenario. He insisted that under pressure from environmental lobbies, manganese ore mining has reduced a lot. K K Pahuja, President, ISSDA, highlighted the importance of stainless steel and the present market opportunities for stainless steel production in India.

Anil Malhotra, Managing Director, Tuf Group, UAE, discussed the steel scenario in the Middle East and gave an insightful and detailed analysis of US trade tariffs and sanctions and their effects on Middle Eastern countries, Iran and Pakistan.

V P Upadhyay, Advisor, Ministry of Environment, insisted on encouraging cluster EIA for industrial projects and sectional EIA. He said many cluster areas have improved their Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) and are now out of designated CPAs.

The second session, dedicated to manganese ore and alloys, was chaired by Sandeep Kapur, Marketing Manager, South 32. Aloys D'Harambure, Executive Director, International Manganese Institute (IMnI), France, offered a detailed analysis of the manganese ore market and the present trade scenario. He predicted a rise in manganese ore demand by 2.1% per year over 2018-2023.

C.B. Atulkar, Executive Director (TECH), MOIL Ltd, India, stated that MOIL is in the process of expanding production significantly. He also gave a brief introduction on the manganese ore reserves in the country.

Paul Desportes, Senior VP Commercial - Mining and Metals Division, Eramet Comilog Manganese, France, focused on the manganese and nickel market dynamics in the major producing areas and Eramet's expansion projects.

Gautam Kumar, Director, Asia Minerals Ltd., highlighted aspects of the South African economy and the mining industry's performance in South Africa. He said the major reason for the power crisis in South Africa is that no new high-capacity private power generation facility has been set up and the projects of Eskom had major time and cost overruns.

The third session, chaired by M.C. Thomas, Executive In Charge, TATA Steel (FAMD) Ltd, featured detailed analysis of the global chrome market scenario. Franciscus Prins, Vice President (Sales and Marketing), Elkem, Norway, shared the history of Soderberg electrode paste which is used as a conductor in submerged arc furnace under self-baking process while manufacturing different types of ferro alloys and Calcium Carbides.

Sheraz Neffati, Executive Director, ICDA, shared her views on the chrome ore market and ferro chrome trade. M. Venkatesh, Senior General Manager, Sales and Marketing (Ferro Alloys), Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA), focused on the chrome ore industry, domestic production, reserve scenario and the challenges faced by producers. In the context of the upcoming chromite mines auctions, he said due to India's minuscule share of global chrome ore reserves, it is necessary to preserve it for domestic value addition.

Rohan Baid, Research and Insight Professional [Steel Industry Specialist], SteelMint group, provided the pricing dynamics of ferro alloys and discussed the trends in pricing of alloys and ores. He also discussed India's trade dynamics with other countries.

The last day's sessions covered innovative technologies and raw materials and noble alloys. The first session was chaired by Srinivasan Iyer, Managing Director, Elkem and the following session was chaired by Anoop Gutgutiya, Managing Director, Team Ferro Alloys Ltd.

Shenbagam Manhiram from Tata Power Ltd presented insightful views on the power and tariff scenario in the country and said that electricity demand will rise significantly in the coming years. He added that e-mobility is likely to be a key demand driver of electricity and could result in incremental power demand of nearly 10 billion units by 2030. He estimated that energy contribution from solar roof tops during 2029-2030 will likely be 7 billion units.

Ravith Hansraj, Control Engineer, Tenova Pyromet, presented a paper on the benefits of Tenova's Advanced Autofurn Furnace Controller. The Pyromet AutoFurn Furnace Controller is an intelligent system which provides an additional level of automation, above the SCADA and PLC. It is programmed to react on current furnace conditions to achieve maximum power input. It is programmed to operate at specified standard parameters and monitor alarms.

Tuhsar Ghalsasi, MD and CEO, Ghalsasi Smelting, spoke on furnace design for multiple alloy production. Ghalsasi Smelting offers opportunities for production of primary alloys like ferrochrome with other primary alloys like SiMn/FeMn in the same furnace by utilizing the furnace to its full capacity.

Sangeet Jain, Director, Lanza Tech Pvt. Ltd. spoke on the conversion of ethanol form CO. He insisted on carbon recycling and said it would be an excellent substrate building block of the future.

Bhakta Hari Agasthi, Chairman and Director, Mn Alloys and Reductant Consulting Company, W.L.L Carbon Traders, spoke on carbonaceous materials and said the demand for good reactive reductants for Ferroalloys and Silicon metals production is unlimited due to specific advantages with particular respect to furnace operation and yield. He insisted on the vital point that all Ferro alloys producers should cautiously select the best reductant mix that improves process stability.

Xiaojun Chen, Analyst, Trafigura, dwelt on China's supply reform and its implications for the coke market. He said supply-side reforms are the cornerstone of Chinese policy and coke capacity reduction in China focuses mainly on five provinces: Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Jiangsu. In the long run, with demand recovery, there is a risk of supply tightness of coke.

Naveen Dadoo, Advisor Pelden Enterprise Ltd, spoke on hydel power projects in Bhutan. He said at present there are 2100MW hydel projects in operation that are expected to grow to 5000MW by 2020. He also shared his concerns as regards the US-China trade war and its effects on Ferro Silicon production.

Ravishankar Marda, Director, Premier Alloys and Chemicals Ltd., said the steel industry in India is growing at 6% per annum and vanadium demand is expected to grow from the present about 4000MT per annum to about 6000MT in the next five years. However, duty-free imports from South Korea under FTA are exerting pricing pressure on domestic manufacturers, he noted.