Incepted in 1968, Bharat Wire Ropes Ltd. (BWRL) has come a long way. It has established itself as the leading manufacturer in the industry of wire ropes and strands in India. BWRL is undergoing a transformation by expanding its base in the wire rope category where innovation is the focus, good price is an expectation and customer satisfaction is of paramount importance. Currently the speciality wire manufacturer’s capacity stands at 10,000 tonnes per annum, which will go up to 76,000 tonnes after the expansion. The machinery for the project is being imported from various countries including Germany, Italy and Spain. Team WCI interacted with Mr. M. L. Mittal, Managing Director, Bharat Wire Ropes Ltd. to explore more on the expansion plans, marketing strategy; product’s to be manufactured and views on Indian wire industry and their future plan. Excerpt
Wire & Cable India: Tell us about the products you plan to manufacture with the new capacity and markets targeted?
M.L. Mittal: We would be manufacturing steel wire ropes used in different application having the capacity of 66,000 MTPA. The company will run the plant at 80% of its capacity. The cost of project is estimated to be Rs. 490.78 crores. The company would be manufacturing different ropes like offshore ropes, mining ropes, elevator ropes, general engineering ropes, non rotating ropes, drill line ropes. With this we have chalked out the plans for the target markets such as:
• Target the established US and European markets and the rapidly growing Brazilian and Asian market (through Singapore) in the first phase of global marketing strategy.
• In the US market, we plan to target the strategic regions of Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Pacific Coast, and the Great lakes.
• In the Atlantic region, the focus is on the ports, shipping, and elevator segments, whereas in the Gulf Coast we will concentrate on the oil, ports, and cranes segments.
• The mining and elevator segments will be the primary target segments for the Pacific Coast and the Great lakes region will target the material handling and steel plant segments.
• In the second phase we plan to target the Middle East, African, Australian and Chinese markets.
WCI: Kindly throw some light on the strategic advantages of the wire rope manufacturing project at Chalisgaon, Maharashtra?
MLM: The project is strategically located at MIDC Chalisgaon, Maharashtra spanning 60 acres of land having the following advantages:
a) Road: The industrial area is well connected by internal raods. State highway between Dhule-Aurangabad, passing through Chalisgaon Area.
b) Railway: Chalisgaon is located at Mumbai-Bhusawal rail network of central railway, which is within the vicinity of 5 km from MIDC, which connects Eastern/Northern and Western parts of India. The railway station is connected to central railway and normal facilities for transport of goods to upper India and Mumbai are available to the industries.
c) Air: The nearest airport is Located at Chikalthana (Aurangabad) 90 km from Chalisgaon city.
d) Port: The nearest port is Mumbai port which is approx 344 km from Chalisgaon site.
e) Skilled manpower: There are 12 engineering college, polytechnic and industrial training institutes within the vicinity of Chalisgaon. Chalisgaon is the 2nd largest tehsil after bhusawal in Jalgaon district, hence attracts skilled manpower from nearby towns as well.
f) Power: BWRL has received confirmation letter from MSEB for power to their facility through a substation of 33Kv, situated 3 kms from the industrial area.
g) Water: It will be supplied by MIDC through dedicated pipelines for the facility. MIDC has implemented a temporary water supply scheme for the industrial area. Water is lifted from wells by pump and supplied to industries for the construction work. A concrete proposal to supply water for Chalisgaon Industrial area from Grina River which is situated about 8 km from Chalisgaon is under implementation.
WCI: Further provide an overview of international market and its opportunities?
MLM: International markets provide the vast opportunities in the wire rope segment to give you an overview:
• The global wire ropes production is estimated to have reached 2.89 MMT in 2011.
• The world’s largest wire rope player is Bridon.
• USA fulfills about 51% of market share globally followed by Korea, Europe and Japan.
• The demand of ropes in the USA shows y-o-y growth of 3-5%.
• China is the largest wire rope manufacturing country in the Asia Pacific region, with a market size of approximately 0.50 MMT, with exports all across the world.
• The total steel wires production as per Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India (SWMAI) is approximately 3 MMT i.e. 5% of total steel consumption as on 2010.
WCI: What are your future plans and also your views on Indian wire industry?
MLM: The domestic steel wire ropes industry has a capacity of approximately 129,000 MT as on Dec 2011. The wire rope industry is characterized with few major players and remaining small and unorganized players. India constitutes only 1% of global wire exports and approximately 16% of Indian production caters to a portion of global markets. Wire rope prices have grown at a CAGR of 5% during 2006-11. Input and output prices have a high correlation. Thus, any fluctuation in raw material prices will be reflected in selling prices and passed onto the customers. There are no pricing restrictions on the product either in domestic or export markets. Prices are decided on demand & supply factors.