Dalmia OCL, refractory manufacturing arm of Dalmia Group, has announced opening 1.08 lakh tonne brownfield facility in Rajgangpur, Odisha, to manufacture magnesia carbon refractory bricks on 21 September 2020.
Phase-I of 36,000 tonne has been launched and two more phases will be added over the next two years.
The company made an investment of Rs 20 crore for Phase-I and this augments the capacity by 33 percent. The total investment on this line is around Rs 70 crore.
Dalmia OCL plans to make a cumulative investment of another Rs 100 crore in the next five years to boost its domestic manufacturing capacity.
The company is localising the production of most refractories to provide support to its key customers such as the Steel Authrotiy of India (SAIL), Tata Steel, JSW Group, JSPL Group and AMNS.
With the launch of the new manufacturing line, the company aims to substitute imports with locally manufactured MgO-C bricks and expects to capture 25 percent of the market share.
Once fully commissioned, this will be India’s largest refractory line for production of magnesia carbon bricks and promises to cut the nation’s import dependence by up to 50 percent.
Refractories are necessary materials used in high-temperature equipment like in the internal linings of blast furnaces and converters used for steel making and in furnaces for heating materials before further processing.
Currently around 80 percent of magnesia carbon refractory bricks are imported from China, mainly for their cost competitiveness. However, Dalmia is planning to bring down the cost to China’s level within the next six months to one year.
The company is also planning to source raw material within India and has identified five-six magnesia companies, but it will be done in a step-by-step approach.