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Industry Overview:
The steel industry in India is concentrated in the east, south and west of the country.
The integrated foundries are located in the east, while electric steel is produced
predominantly in the south and west. In the future the east will see rapid expansion as
more integrated capacities are being built in Orissa and other eastern states due to
availability of raw materials.
India is a 5th largest steel producer globally and China is at first position. Production
wise India accounts 3.96% of total Steel production globally. Steel Industry
contribution to GDP is 1.2%. The Indian steel industry comprises producers of
finished steel, semi-finished steel, stainless steel and pig iron. The private sector
controls almost two-thirds of the steel market, while the public sector producers have
the remaining one-third market share. The steel industry is in the growth phase.
India’s per capita steel consumption is low at 47 kg, compared to global standards for
developed countries pegged at 400 to 500 kg. The demand expectations for steel
products are rapidly growing for coming years.
Their domestic competitors are numerous medium-sized and small companies and
more mergers can be expected between these companies, as these firms need to
improve their position with regard to the powerful suppliers of raw materials.
Industry Trend
The index of basic metals and alloy industries recorded 11.17% growth in April 2010
compared with 4.71% increase in the same month last year. Among the major
components in the index , production of bars and rods recorded 12.82% growth in
April 2010 compared with 3.05% growth in the same month last year. Production of
carbon steel recorded 13.88% growth in April 2010 compared with 11.12% increase
in the same month last year. Production of steel wires recorded 4.44% growth in April
2010 compared with 32.35% increase in the same month last year. Finished (carbon)
Steel production (weight of 5.13% in the IIP) registered a growth of 2.5% in May
2010 compared to 2.8% (estimated) in May 2009. Finished (carbon) Steel production
grew by 3.6% during April-May 2010-11 compared to an increase of 0.8% during the
same period of 2009-10.
Production Trend
PRODUCTS
• Flat Products
Flat products include plates and hot rolled sheets such as coils and sheets. Flat
products are derived from slabs. One of the major uses of steel plates is in ship
building.
• Long Products
Long products include bars, rods, wires, ropes and piers. These are called long
products due to their shapes. Long products are made from billets and blooms.
Long products are mostly used in housing and construction and also in rail
tracks.
VALUE CHAIN
• Integrated steel producers
• Secondary steel producers
COMPOSITION
• Alloy
• Non Alloy
•
The leading firms of the industry, namely Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Tata Steel,
ESSAR Steel, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. (RINL) ISPAT
and Jindal South West Limited
(JSW).
In India the three biggest steel makers, whose combined output is almost 20 million
tons, have a market share of 5o%.
Their domestic competitors are numerous medium sized and smallish companies.
More mergers can be expected between companies of this size as these firms need to
improve their position with regard to the powerful suppliers of raw materials. But till
now there is no sign of acquisition or mergers of Indian steel companies within India
because most of the major producers are public.
As different major global steel producers like Arcelor-mittal, Posco and others are
setting up plants in India, competition in the future will increase. In that case several
mid-size domestic companies may go for mergers. But if we see from the current
position of the industry we can say that in future Indian steel industry will remain
oligopoly or can become a competitive one.
Major Issues
Even though India is now one of the world’s top ten steel makers its domestic
output is insufficient to meet the demand in all segments. There are several
reasons for this: firstly, steel consumption is rising very fast as a consequence of
the prospective dynamic economic growth. Secondly, there is demand for high-
quality products which India will not be able to supply in sufficient quantities for
the foreseeable future. These include products with surface finishing that helps
them to be more durable and retain their value for longer.
Barriers to entry:
We believe that the barriers to entry are high. Following are the factors that justify our
view.
• Capital Requirement
Steel industry is a capital intensive business. It is estimated that to set up 1
mtpa capacity of integrated steel plant, it requires between Rs 25 bn to Rs 30
bn depending upon the location of the plant and technology used.
• Economies of scale
The scale of operation does matter as benefits of economies of scale are
derived in the form of lower costs, R& D expenses and better bargaining
power while sourcing raw materials. It may be noted that those steel
companies, which are integrated, have their own mines for key raw materials
such as iron ore and coal and this protects them for the potential threat for new
entrants to a significant extent.
• Government Policy
The government has a favourable policy for steel manufacturers. However,
there are certain discrepancies involved in allocation of iron ore mines and
land acquisitions. Furthermore, the regulatory clearances and other issues are
some of the major problems for the new entrants.
Buyers’ Power
Suppliers’ Power
• Bargaining power
The bargaining power of suppliers is low for the fully integrated steel plants as
they have their own mines of key raw material like iron ore coal for example
Tata Steel. However, those who are non-integrated or semi integrated has to
depend on suppliers. An example could be SAIL, which imports coking coal.
• Energy supply
Power shortages hamper production at many locations. Since 2001 the Indian
government has been endeavoring to ensure that power is available nationwide
by 2012. The deficiencies have prompted many firms with heavier energy
demands to opt for producing electricity with their own industrial generators.
Intensity of Competition
• Product differentiation
In terms of product differentiation as it doesn’t fall into the luxury or specialty
goods and thus does not have any substantial price difference. However,
certain companies like Tata Steel still enjoy a premium for their products
because of its quality and its brand value created more than 100 years back.
Threat of substitutes
• Aluminium
Steel has no strong substitute, but there is a threat of aluminium. Although
usage of aluminium has been rising continuously in the automobile and
consumer durables sectors, it still does not pose any significant threat to steel
as the latter cannot be replaced completely and the cost is also very high.
After understanding all the above view points and the current global scenario, we
believe that the domestic steel industry will likely to maintain its momentum in the
long term. Investors need to focus on companies that are integrated, have economies
of scale and sell premium quality products.
1.
PEST Analysis
Political Factors
• Currently 100% FDI allowed.
• Full utilization of PPP (public, private, partnership) in development of
infrastructure.
• Govt. policy allows private capital in port development so that steel producers
would be encouraged to develop port and berth facilities so as to improve steel
productivity.
Economic Factors
Excise duty cuts to 8 %, Import duty cuts to 5%
• .
Social Factors
• Development in the rural areas.
Technological Factors
• The main technologies which are used in the production of steel are Basic Arc
furnace, Induction furnace and Electric Arc Furnace.
• SAIL setting up with Posco for using latest technology named Finex.
Strengths:
* Steel in specified backward districts is eligible for a complete tax holiday for a
period of 5 years from commencement of production and a 30 percent tax holiday for
5 years thereafter.
* Export profits from specified minerals and ores are eligible for certain concessions
under the Income tax Act.
* Low customs duty on capital equipment used for minerals; on nickel, tin, pig iron,
unwrought aluminium.
* Capital goods imported for steel under EPCG scheme qualify for concessional
customs duty subject to certain export obligation.
2. World's largest producer of mica; third largest producer of coal and lignite &
barites; ranks among the top producers of iron ore, bauxite, manganese ore and
aluminium.
Weakness:
• Coal steel in India is associated with poor employee productivity. The output
per miner per annum in India varies from 150 to 2,650 tonnes compared to an
average of around 12,000 tonnes in the U.S. and Australia; and
• Historically, opencast steel has been favoured over underground steel. This
has led to land degradation, environmental pollution and reduced quality of
coal as it tends to get mixed with other matter;
• India has still not been able to develop a comprehensive solution to deal with
the fly ash generated at coal power stations through use of Indian coal. Clean
coal technologies, such as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, where the
coal is converted to gas, are available, but these are expensive and need
modification to suit Indian coal specifications.
• Poor infrastructure facilities
• Steel technology is outdated
• Low innovation capabilities
• Labour force is highly un-skilled and inexperienced
• High rate of accidents
• Lack of R&D programs and training and development
• Most of the Indian steel companies do not have access to Indian capital market
• There is a lack of respect for the steel industry and it suffers from the incorrect
perception that ore deposits are depleted.
• There is limited access to capital, and mines are increasingly more costly to
find, acquire, develop and produce.
• There are long lead times on production decisions.
• The Indian steel industry suffers from an out-dated, unattractive approach to
steel education that is partly to blame for insufficient human resources.
• Improvement in operational efficiency of the steel companies - Steel
companies are in need of an organizational transformation to gradually align
its operating costs to international standards. Steel costs of Indian companies
are at least 35 percent higher than those of leading coal exporting countries
such as Australia, Indonesia, and South Africa. To match productivity, they
will need to invest in new technologies, improve processes in planning and
execution of projects, and institutionalize a comprehensive risk management
framework.
• Steel operations are not environment friendly. Least importance is given to
environment concerns.
• High rate of illegal steel
Opportunities:
Threats:
• Foreign Investment in the Steel Sector
During 1999, the Government had cleared 7 more proposals of leading international
steel companies for prospecting and exploration in the mineral sector to the tune of
US$ 62.5 million. 65 licenses have been issued till date for prospecting an area of
around 90,142 skims in the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana
and Madhya Pradesh. Prospecting licenses have been granted in favour of Indian
subsidiaries of well-known steel companies...
• Large integrated international metal manufacturers including POSCO, Mittal
Steel and Alcan have announced plans for expansion in India
• Steel companies and equipment suppliers are under the constant threat of
being taken over by foreign companies.
• A heavy tax burden discourages further investment.
Politicians undervalue the industry's contributions to the economy
Concentration Ratio:
In Economics the concentration ratio of an industry is used as an indicator of the
relative size of firms in relation to the industry as a whole. This may also assist in
determining the market form of the industry. One commonly used concentration ratio
is the four-firm concentration ratio, which consists of the market share, as a
percentage, of the four largest firms in the industry. In general, the N-firm
concentration ratio is the percentage of market output generated by the N largest firms
in the industry. The 4 firm concentration ratio of the Iron and Steel Industry is 71%.
This implies that there is oligopoly in the industry as it is dominated my few major
players. Major percentage of market output is generated by the 4 largest firms in the
industry.
Herfindahl Index:
The Herfindahl index, also known as Herfindahl-Hirschman Index or HHI, is a
measure of the size of firms in relationship to the industry and an indicator of the
amount of competition among them. It is an economic concept but widely applied in
competition law and antitrust. It is defined as the sum of the squares of the market
shares of each individual firm. As such, it can range from 0 to 1 moving from a very
large amount of very small firms to a single monopolistic producer. Decreases in the
Herfindahl index generally indicate a loss of pricing power and an increase in
competition, whereas increases imply the opposite. Value of Herfindahl index for
Indian Steel Industry is .2470. It implies that the competition in the steel industry is
medium to high and high concentration.
Market
shar
Company Net sales e Index value
TATA STEEL 253950 55.03 3027.828
SAIL 100391 21.75 473.172
ISPAT 20480 4.44 19.691
JSW 47565 10.31 106.221
BHUSHAN 12985 2.81 7.916
BSL LTD. 546.4 0.12 0.014
STEEL CO OF GUJRAT 1142.8 0.25 0.061
JSPL 24453 5.30 3662.97
28.073
TOTAL 461512 6