Japan 3 Machinery Makers Accept PL-TCM Order from Tata Steel

Sojitz, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, and Hitachi announced on Thursday they accepted an order for conversion of continuous pickling and tandem cold rolling mill (PL-TCM) from Tata Steel of India. The order value is around 6 billion yen. The conversion is scheduled to finish in 2013. They previously received an order for PL-TCM in 1998. By the conversion, PL-TCM’s capacity will expand to 2.04 million tonnes per year from present 1.3 million tonnes. Additionally new PL-TCM can roll high grade steel sheet for automobiles. The new facility will supply cold rolled coil to continuous annealing & processing line (CAPL) in a joint company by Tata steel and Nippon Steel.

Tata Steel plans expansion of Jamshedpur iron works to 10 million tonnes of crude steel per year until late 2011 and construction of new iron works in Orissa, India to follow steel demand growth in the country. Tata Steel agreed with Nippon Steel to introduce CAPL with 600,000-tonne annual capacity to supply high grade cold rolled steel sheet for automobiles in India.

Indian economic growth keeps high level at about 7% per annum in recent years. Automotive steel demand is expected to increase for a long period. Domestic and offshore steel makers plan to construct iron works in India. Sojitz, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery and Hitachi aim to accept orders for steel making equipment in India.