Tata Steel completes acquisition of Bhushan Energy Ltd.

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Tata Steel on Saturday announced it had completed the acquisition of debt-ridden Bhushan Energy Ltd.

The announcement came after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the resolution plan of Tata Steel to acquire Bhushan Energy for around Rs.800 crore.

Pursuant to the acquisition, the company holds 99.99% of the total equity share capital of BEL. Bhushan Energy was a subsidiary of Bhushan Steel Ltd, which was also taken over by Tata Steel last year in May, and later renamed as Tata Steel BSL Ltd.

Tata Steel had offered Rs.35,200 crore in cash to acquire Bhushan Steel, besides Rs.1,200 crore to creditors and convert the remaining debt owed to banks to equity.Incorporated in 2005, Bhushan Energy is based in Dhenkanal, Odisha.

STEEL PRICES UNDER IMMENSE PRESSURE

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Despite the mills’ best efforts, steel prices have been unable to gain much traction so far in 2019. Price increase announcements of $40/ton in January and February yielded partial and apparently temporary gains for steelmakers. The prices of all flat-rolled steel products are now well below where they were at the beginning of the year, which may be good news for fabricators and other steel users, but is not-so-good news for steel producers and distributors that have seen their margins and the value of their inventories erode.

SMU tracks steel prices each week and publishes its SMU Price Momentum Indicator, which signals whether steel prices are more likely to move up, down, or sideways in the coming 30 days. Currently, SMU’s market momentum is lower for hot-rolled and plate products and neutral for cold-rolled and galvanized.

Mill price increases cannot succeed without the cooperation of distributors. They are on the front lines in the spot market, and it’s their day-to-day decisions about whether to deal or hold the line that ultimately translate into price changes. SMU’s latest survey data suggests that support for higher prices is waning among service centers. About 90 percent of service center executives responding to SMU’s latest poll said they are having difficulty passing along higher prices to their customers.

In its twice-monthly survey, SMU asks manufacturers if they are seeing higher prices from service centers. In mid-March, around 40 percent of respondents said their service center suppliers were seeking higher prices. In the latest data, that figure had declined to 17 percent.

Medium Carbon Steel Strips.

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Meduim Carbon Steels are similar to low carbon steel except that the carbon ranges from 0.30 to 0.60% & the manganese from 0.50 to 1.65%. Increasing the carbon content is approximately 0.5% with an accompanying increase in manganese allows medium carbon steels to be used in the quenched & tempered conditions. This steels are of particular importance because of unique combination of strength & toughness after heat treat treatment.

For more information, visit us at, www.btstrips.com

Spehrodization of High Carbon Steel Strips.

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Spheroidite forms when carbon steel is heated to approximately 700 °C for over 30 hours. Spheroidite can form at lower temperatures but the time needed drastically increases, as this is a diffusion-controlled process. The result is a structure of rods or spheres of cementite within primary structure (ferrite or pearlite, depending on which side of the eutectoid you are on). The purpose is to soften higher carbon steels and allow more formability. This is the softest and most ductile form of steel. The image to the right shows where spheroidizing usually occurs.

Steel prices increasing rapidly.

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Steel prices in India may go up for the third time in a month – a rare instance -as companies pass on the increase in iron ore rates.

According to sources, the third hike may take place on March 1. The increase will be of Rs 1,000 a ton, taking the total increase within a span of 30 days to Rs 2,750 a ton. The latest round will take price of hot rolled steel to Rs 44,200 a ton.

“Such an increase has rarely happened, it hasn’t taken place in the last eight years,” an industry official said.

Prices were hiked, by Rs 750 a ton, for the first time in the first week of February. The second increase, of Rs 1,000 a ton, came in the third week of the month.

The latest increase in steel prices comes after three consecutive months of softening rates in India, and the world over. Since November, prices had crashed, especially because of the China factor.

Demand in China, the world’s largest steel market, has softened since November, even though production has also been cut.

But an accident in a Brazilian iron ore mine owned by Vale SA, the world’s largest producer, pushed up prices of the raw material. According to reports, the accident in a dam will impact about 70 million tons of iron ore production.

This has led to an increase in steel prices in the global market.

JSW Steel set to acquire Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd.

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Tuesday went procedurally a step closer to acquiring an asset in bankruptcy-induced ownership change after the administrator overseeing the sale of Bhushan Power and Steel issued a letter of intent (LoI) in favour of India’s biggest maker of the alloy.

JSW Steel had made a Rs 19,650-crore offer, which included upfront payment of Rs 19,300 crore, with another Rs 350 crore earmarked for operational creditors, according to sources close to the development. After JSW Steel accepts the LoI, the resolution professional will submit JSW Steel’s plan to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for its approval.

In this resolution case, JSW Steel came from behind and bettered its initial bid to trump Tata Steel’s Rs 17,000-crore offer. The Sanjay Singal-owned company has Rs 47,000 crore of debt. While JSW had earlier acquired the one million tonne Monnet Ispat for Rs 2,875 crore jointly with Aion Investments, Bhushan Power and Steel is bigger with a 3.5 million tonne capacity. If JSW Steel is successful, this acquisition would also compensate for JSW Steel’s failed bid for Bhushan Steel Ltd. (now renamed Tata Steel BSL), which went to the Tatas for Rs 35,200 crore.

Spheroidizing of carbon steel.

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Spheroidite forms when carbon steel is heated to approximately 700 °C for over 30 hours. Spheroidite can form at lower temperatures but the time needed drastically increases, as this is a diffusion-controlled process. The result is a structure of rods or spheres of cementite within primary structure (ferrite or pearlite, depending on which side of the eutectoid you are on). The purpose is to soften higher carbon steels and allow more formability. This is the softest and most ductile form of steel. The image to the right shows where spheroidizing usually occurs.

As rolled hard strips – Special Temper.

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These are basically as rolled hard steel strip. To achieve a desired hardness, an annealed material of suitable thickness is taken and rolled down to the required thickness, to achieve that required hardness. After rolling, the material is pinch passed and final annealing is not required. To choose the correct thickness (for reduction to the desired thickness) is a matter of expertise.

Grades: This strip is available in low, medium & high carbon grades.

Applications: It is suitable for components where formability is limited. It saves the extra annealing cost. The strip is directly punched & formed and if required sent for heat treatment.

What is hardening & tempering?

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Hardening and Tempering is a thermal process that strengthens steel through a controlled heating and cooling process.

This process will result in improved mechanical properties and give a tougher more durable product. The hardening process involves heating the steel to above the critical temperature for the given grade and then rapidly cooling. Whilst this process achieves the highest mechanical stengths and hardness’s, steel in this condition is extremely brittle and therefore requires further treatment in the form of tempering. This consists of reheating the steel to a lower temperature and holding the steel at the given temperature for a given period of time. As with traditional annealing (used to soften steels) this process is conducted in an inert atmosphere to avoid oxidation.

The exact temperature and processing times vary with given grades of steel and the process is very specialized.

Stainless Steel : Hardened Tempered Steel Strip.

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These are Precision Steel Strips, anti corrossive and with a very fine micro-sturcture. The grains are super fine. We supply these strips in Grade S-Flex3. This steel has very high resistance power with Molybdenum .5%.

With C% .32, these strips can be supplied with a Tensile Strength of 1800/1900n/mm2.

S-Flex3 strips are supplied in Medical Industry, mainly for manufacturing Opthalmic Blades.

For more details, visit us at, www.btstrips.com