Resumen de Indian refractories sector hopes rising steel tide will lift all boats
Industrial Minerals
Booming steel production has helped prop up demand for Indian refractories amid lacklustre demand from cement and foundries, but as Sunder Singh, IM Correspondent explains, the country's relatively healthy market is attracting increased foreign competition.
Buoyed by strong expansion in the domestic steel sector, India's refractories industry has registered impressive growth over the last decade.
Refractories demand from steelmakers has more than compensated for recent weak consumption by the cement, glass and non-ferrous metal sectors, but with significant government investment planned in India's infrastructure over the coming years, all of the country's refractory-consuming segments are expected to record healthy demand in the near-to-medium term.
India is home to 13 large and 40 medium-sized refractories companies, with around 300 small scale players. Corporate activity in the sector was brisk in the last Indian financial year, which ended on 31 March 2017, with significant new players entering the market through joint ventures (JV).
Figures from refractory companies and the Indian Refractory Manufacturers Association (IRMA) indicate that the domestic refractories sector grew by nearly 8% in 2016-17.
According to Anirbandip Dasgupta, senior executive officer at IRMA, steelmaking accounts for 75% of India's domestic refractory consumption, while cement consumes 15% and glass demand makes up 5%. The remaining 5% goes into other industries, including aluminium and copper smelting and foundries.
In the Indian financial year 2015-16, sales of Indian refractories totalled $961.7m. Export revenue stood at $213.8m, while India imported $360m-worth of refractory products, around 33% of the amount consumed in the country that year.
