Published 26th October, 2021 by Matthew Moggridge

Indian integrated stainless steel manufacturer Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) has commissioned a 26kt/yr precision strip mill as part of a phase one development of its latest brownfield expansion plan of its state-of-the-art specialty products division (SPD).

JSHL’s steelmaking facilities include melting, casting, hot rolling, cold rolling and other value additions. The company has a melt capacity of 800kt/yr. The Specialty Product Division caters to the high-end precision and specialty stainless steel requirements of reputable Indian and international customers and serves the niche requirements in thinner sections for specific applications in various stainless steel grades.

According to JSHL, this capacity expansion takes the company’s total precision strip production capacity to 48kt/yr from an existing 22kt/yr capacity and further strengthens the steelmaker’s presence in the automotive, process industry, and oil and petrochemicals sectors as well as augmenting supplies to aerospace and electric vehicles.

JSHL claims that the capacity expansion at SPD is part of the company’s plan to leverage its leadership position in specialty and value-added products. After this expansion, operational capability will expand and products up to 650mm width will be manufactured, helping the Indian steelmaker to consolidate its leadership position in the international market.

Abhyuday Jindal, managing director of JSHL, said that over the next two years, the planned SPD expansion will enable the business to ‘foray into new export markets with an expanded range of product offerings.’

Brownfield expansion at Jindal’s SPD will increase total precision strip capacity to 60kt/yr by the end of Q2FY23. To expand its market outreach, the company will augment its blade steel capacity to 24kt/yr from its existing 14kt/yr over a period of two years.

JSHL claims it is among the world’s leading razor blade steel producers and supplies to global brands in the sector. The plant is equipped to produce blade steel in thicknesses as low as 0.07mm; nearly 20 billion blades are made out of the company’s blade steel every year.

The company is also renowned for its world-class coin blank production facility and supplies coin blanks to Indian and international mints, including Monnaie de Paris (France), Royal Canadian Mint, Mincovňa Kremnica (SlovakRepublic), Royal Dutch Mint (Netherlands), The Royal Mint (UK), and Mint of Finland Ltd. (Finland), among others.