Usha Martin is the only company to have an integrated approach to the manufacturing of quality steel wire ropes – from mining iron ore and steel, producing steel in an integrated plant and making wide range of wire machinery to finally producing the steel wire ropes. It manufactures more than 100,000 MT of wire ropes annually apart from producing other wire and cable products.
“Product specifications are being upgraded leading to new product innovations in order to venture into new applications of wire rope and strand with key focus on international markets, especially in South America and Africa,” said Mr. Pravin Kumar Jain, Jt. Managing Director, Usha Martin Ltd.
Wire & Cable India: Brief us about your company.
Pravin Kumar Jain: Established in the year 1960, today Usha Martin is the only global company having an integrated model on the upstream, beginning with iron ore and coal mining, power generation, integrated steel plant to manufacture world class steel wire ropes. Today, it is one of the world’s largest manufacturer of steel wire rope and a leading producer of specialty steel products. As a business entity, we have always focused on delivering value added products and services to our customers. To ensure that our commitment to quality percolates through every sphere of our operations, we have built a robust network of capabilities spread across the globe. These facilities are closely monitored for process and product quality to ensure high standards.
WCI: Share more information about the infrastructure, installed capacity, machine installed and R&D set up.
PKJ: The Company’s infrastructural facilities include several different units, which integrate to develop an efficient value chain system. We have the wire and wire rope manufacturing units in Ranchi, Hoshiarpur, Dubai, Bangkok and UK along with a unit at Ranchi to manufacture high standard conveyor cord. Besides, we have our integrated steel plant at Jamshedpur with annual capacity of 1 million tonnes and bright bar manufacturing units at Ranchi and Chennai. Usha Martin also has a manufacturing facility for tele-communication cables at Silvassa. Apart from the above, the company also has iron ore and coal mines in Jharkhand.
Moreover, Usha Martin has an additional set-up of machinery division at Ranchi. Machinery division’s modern state-of-art facility manufactures wide range of world class machineries.
For R&D, we have our global R&D centre in Italy, Europe. Our global R&D centre at Italy is actively engaged in designing of wire ropes and uses proprietary design software to provide products that are the best in class, so that the customer always gets a consistent quality of product and effective technical solution from Usha Martin.
WCI: Also update us on your product range.
PKJ: Usha Martin Ltd manufactures all ranges of wire ropes. These ropes confirm to all important specifications, which includes ISO, API, DNV, ABS, NABL, Lloyd’s, EN, JIS, DIN, GOST etc. We manufacture more than 100,000 MT of wire ropes annually. Our wire rope ranges from 1.5 mm to 155 mm diameter in size, 1370 to 2160 N/mm2 in grade, are available in all construction and configuration. These products find diverse applications such as in oil & offshore, construction, bridges, mining, crane, elevator, aerial ropeway, ports and fishing etc. Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance has presented the TPM Excellence Award.
In wires and strands, we make ASCR core wires and strands for the power sector, LRPC strands for the construction industry, springs and auto spokes for the automotive segment and a range of specialized products for general engineering applications.
UM Cables located at Silvassa manufactures optical fiber cables, armoured cables, unarmoured cables, aerial copper cables, multimode fiber cables, jelly filled copper cables for the telecom sector, duct copper cables, direct burial cables etc. Versatility of product mix, diverse infrastructure, and capability to manufacture complex cables of international standards, constantly meet customer satisfaction in delivering high value to both domestic and international customers.
Besides wire and cable products, we have the machinery division which makes wire drawing machines, stranding and closing machines, bunchers, machineries for oil tempered spring steel wires, bright bar machineries, equipment for manufacturing power and telephone cables, machines for armouring and rewinding, copper coating lines for CO2 welding wire manufacture, steel plant equipment, material handling equipment, etc.
WCI: Do you have any plans regarding expansion, product addition, new markets, etc?
PKJ: In-order to accomplish our aim to become No.1 in the world, production facilities are being augmented with the new state-of-the-art high capacity machines, with a special focus on more critical and sophisticated application areas, leading to product innovations and technological advancement.
Product specifications are being upgraded leading to new product innovations in order to venture into new applications of wire rope and strand with key focus on international markets, especially in South America and Africa.
WCI: Share your views on Indian steel wire industry.
PKJ: The Indian wire sector is expected to grow at 2.1% CAGR, wire rope sector at 5.3% CAGR and strands at 4.2% CAGR in the next 5 years. In the competitive and fragmented nature of wire market, we anticipate a modest growth going forward in the coming time. Speculating the business scenario in wire rope market, growth expected in end markets and introduction of new products. Strong and expanding construction segment gradually indicates high potential and demand in strands.
WCI: What steps have you taken for better operational efficiencies?
PKJ: As I said earlier, we have already undertaken the actions required for augmenting the old machines and adding new machines to arrive at a modernized, efficient, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in order to develop new generation products for advanced and high-end application.
