Tata Steel Aims to Unify Brand Ahead of Long-Term Capacity Goals

Much is happening at Tata Steel.
To begin with, the Indian steel conglomerate announced it was looking at increasing its installed capacity from the present 18.5 million tons (MT) per annum to 30 MT by 2025.
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In the near term, Tata wants to have a common branding strategy for all its acquired companies so that end-consumers are not confused, according to the Hindu Business Line.
Recently, Tata Steel picked up steel plants of Bhushan Steel and the steel business of Usha Martin, and is said to be looking around to pick up some more stressed steel units.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) in its report quoted Tata Steel (India) President Anand Sen as saying bringing together of all Tata Steel’s assets under one brand would take place only after they are upgraded to meet Tata’s high standards. The Tata Steel India president was speaking on the eve of the announcement of the 56th Metallurgists’ Day and 72nd Annual Technical Meeting — organized by the Indian Institute of Metals along with Tata Steel — scheduled for Nov. 14-16.
In both acquisition cases, there are several areas which will require an upgrade in order to bring the two plants on par with the standards of Tata Steel. Bhushan Steel and Usha Martin have a combined capacity of 7 million tons.
This would be factored in Tata Steel’s aim of going up to 30 MT capacity. In addition, the projected capacity of the Kalinganagar plant is to reach 8 MT after its second phase of expansion, as well as the 13.5 MT from the Jamshedpur plant.
The Kalinganagar second phase is expected to increase the capacity from the present 3 MT to 8 MT, and will be completed by early 2022.
All this is music to the ears of the domestic steel industry.
India’s steel demand is growing at about 7%. Domestic steel consumption grew at 9.2% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 compared with 7.9% in FY ’18.
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In the meantime, Tata Steel said it would continue talks with the European Commission, the Economic Times reported, as the Commission has raised concerns over a plan by Tata to set up a steel joint venture with Thyssenkrupp in Europe.
The European Commission had initiated a deeper investigation into the proposed joint venture following fears being expressed that it could result in higher prices.