Leading manufacturers of stainless steel wires, Vividh Wires Limited, is setting up an ambitious greenfield expansion project in Greater Noida, which will enhance its production capacity by nearly 12000 metric tonnes per annum. This was revealed by Mr. Ashwani Gupta, Director of Vividh Wires Limited, during his interaction with Wire & Cable India magazine.
Wire & Cable India: Please share your views on the Indian vis-a-vis the global steel wire industry. What is the role of the Indian government in the growth of this sector?
Ashwani Gupta: In the post-Covid era, the global steel market has witnessed a period of phenomenal growth and is expected to continue this growth at a CAGR of nearly 5 percent over this decade. The Indian steel wire industry is at the forefront of this growth, and will continue to emerge as a global leader in this industry.
Due to the Indian government’s focus and support towards industries, we are probably the best placed major economy in the world and headed for a period of stellar growth, provided the policies continue in the same trajectory. The government needs to put more measures in place to better protect domestic producers, and further incentivise local production.
WCI: What are the major ongoing challenges in the Indian steel wire industry?
AG: The Indian steel wire market is currently struggling with excess supply amidst a weakening global market. As a result of this, gross margins have been under constant pressure; and intense competition due to large scale capacity expansion over the last few years makes the situation even more challenging for Indian steel wire companies. The weak market sentiment has led to a state of destocking across the entire supply chain over the last few quarters, leading to idle or excess production capacities.
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WCI: How can these challenges of the industry be addressed? How is your company contributing towards this transition?
AG: At the heart of this issue is the weakening demand in the Indian market, partially due to heavy imports of downstream products of steel wires such as ropes and meshes. Strong policy level intervention from the Indian government and Steel Ministry is needed to curb the flow of poor quality imports of downstream products which have flooded the Indian market over the last few quarters. Implementation of BIS quality control orders for wire products such as meshes and ropes will ensure that the Indian market does not become a dumping ground for global manufacturers.
Furthermore, Indian companies need to focus more on R&D to indigenously develop and produce special grades of steel, which have so far been imported into India. Such grades will not only provide a volume boost to local productions, but will also contribute towards increasing EBITDA margins owing to their specialized applications and limited supply. At Vividh Wires, we have successfully managed to locally develop and produce several exotic grades of nickel alloy wires, which were hitherto being imported primarily from Europe & North America.
WCI: Could you please take us through the business journey, milestones and achievements of your company?
AG: Vividh Wires was born out of a vision of creating better synergies between our existing group companies and enhancing value addition across our entire basket of stainless steel and high-nickel alloy products. As a group with over 40 years of experience in the steel industry, our greenfield expansion into stainless steel wire drawing led to the commissioning of our wire drawing unit in 2017. Our unique approach has allowed us to establish a strong foothold and as a natural expansion, our second greenfield unit is now under construction with a target for production commencement later this year. The commissioning of this unit will serve as a major milestone for the future of our company, and will enhance our production capacity by nearly 12000 MT per annum.
WCI: Brief us about your specialized products along with their USPs.
AG: In addition to stainless steel wires for applications such as welding wires, superfine wires, we have also established a presence in the specialty nickel-alloy wires segment. A significant portion of our product range are direct import substitutes, and used in very specialized applications. At present, we are globally amongst a handful of manufacturers of fine wires up to 0.12mm in high-nickel alloys such as Inconel & Hastelloy.
Owing to specialized applications of these products, we have zero margin for error and this has compelled us to learn faster, improve efficiencies and enhance quality control measures throughout each and every stage of our manufacturing processes.
WCI: What have been the recent developments at your organization and what are your future growth plans?
AG: At present, we are in the middle of an ambitious greenfield expansion project in Greater Noida. The new unit will be set up with an installed production capacity of 12000 MT per annum, and will allow us to greatly enhance our product range. We firmly believe that a solid infrastructure is the main driving factor behind the growth of any manufacturing company and as such, we have invested heavily in the latest machinery, production technologies and testing equipment. Once the new unit is fully commissioned, our state-of-the-art machineries and increased production capacity will allow us to channelise a larger amount of our production towards special purpose wires.
WCI: Describe your infrastructure and manufacturing setup for the steel wire sector along with their manufacturing capabilities.
AG: Our plant and infrastructure have been equipped with state-of-the-art machinery and the plant layouts have been planned to maximize internal efficiency. At present, we boast of some of the finest machineries used for stainless steel wire drawing in India, allowing us to produce a diverse range of products such as fine wires up to 0.05mm in size and MIG/TIG wires for welding applications. Our production team is capable of handling critical grades such as duplex stainless steels and high nickel alloys such as Inconel & Hastelloy.
Due to our increasing focus on automation and operational efficiency, our new plant is making extensive use of Industry 4.0 related practices and systems. Upon commissioning, we hope to adopt some of the best industry wide practices and set the bar for the stainless steel wire drawing industry. Additionally, we are one of the few Indian companies in the stainless steel sector with a captive Solar PV Plant, and our push for ‘Green Steel’ is only just beginning. Our medium-term target is to go entirely off-grid in a phased manner with the commissioning of our second solar PV Plant, greatly reducing our carbon footprint.
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