The steel industry needs to be prepared for advancements in new processing and
manufacturing technologies to meet requirements of original equipment manufacturers
(OEMS) in automotive sector.
In particular, with new regulations in safety and emissions, the automotive material mix is
expected to significantly change towards increased adoption of higher strength and
corrosion resistant materials, T V Narendran, managing director Tata Steel India has said.
For this, collaborative engagements between steel majors and downstream processors could be one of the ways to address these
evolving needs, he said.
Speaking at Metal 2017 organised by The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry recently, Mr Narendran said growing requirements of
OEMs include, facilities for processing Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS), Tailor welded blanks (TWB), and Tailor rolled blanks, Hot
Stamping and Multimaterial welding techniques.
Steel contributes to 6065 per cent of the total raw material content in the average Indian car. Currently automotive steel consumption in
India is 910 per cent of the total demand which is around 83 million tonne. "Tata Steel has been a long term partner to the auto industry
and has maintained a leadership position with a share of around 43 per cent followed by JSW and Essar," Mr Narendran said.
Elaborating on the steps taken by Tata Steel to meet evolving needs of the auto industry, Mr Narendran said the company has invested in
state of art in Continuous Annealing and Processing (CAPL) Line in joint venture with Nippon Steel to provide full finish exposed panels as
well as AHSS steel.
"Tata Steel’s new plant at Kalinganagar will address AHSS and wider requirements in grades from wheels, commercial vehicles and
passenger vehicles segments," he said. The company is also investing in setting up R&D and Product Application Research labs to seek
costdownweightreduction (CDWR) solutions and technical support to auto customers and solve issues they face in their press/ weld or
paint shops.
Source: Economic TImes