SAIL-BSP gets licence to produce new grades of wire rods

Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh, an arm of state-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has been given license to produce a full range of IS 7904 Grade steel wire rods, which are used in bridge cables and tyre reinforcement materials.

IS 7904 is Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specification for High Carbon Steel Wire Rods. With the grant of the licence, BSP is now in a position to produce High Carbon Wire Rods from its Wire Rod Mill (WRM).

“Developing customised grades of products with specifications and chemistry as desired by customers has always been a thrust area for SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant. Not only do these new grades fulfill customer demands and find newer applications, development and supply of value-added grades also fetch higher net sales realisation. The new grades are developed by cross-functional teams from the Plant’s Quality Department, steel melting shop and rolling mill,” the BSP spokesperson said.

The plant’s Wire Rod Mill produces both garden variety grades as well as special steel grades including TMT Rods, high corrosion-resistant TMT (HCRM), earthquake resistant TMT (EQR-D) rods & electrode quality wire rods. After modernisation & expansion of the plant, WRM has been rolling out its products with billets from the new and modern Steel Melting Shop 3 (SMS 3) as input.

Two new EWNR and CAQ Grade Wire Rods have already been developed through the SMS 3- WRM route and supplied in the current fiscal year. The IS7887 Gr 1–CAQ grade wire rod has been developed in 5.5 and 6.0 mm product dimensions.

“The product has leanest chemistry and thus better drawability along with good resistivity, thus making it suitable for application in armoured cables in the electrical industry. Customers for this grade include HD Wire, Akhil Steel and national small-scale industries,” the spokesperson added.

The other new grade developed through the SMS3-WRM route is IS2879- EWNR, also in 5.5 and 6.0 mm product dimensions. The product that has very lean chemistry, especially with Silicon content contained at 0.03 per cent maximum, finds application in electrode making. More than 15,000 Tonnes of this grade have been rolled and dispatched to various customers including HD Wire, Salasar Alloy and Steel, ADOR Welding and ESAB India.

The High Carbon IS 7904 HC38 & HC 80 grade steel wire rod is high value-added steel developed through SMS 3 – WRM route. BSP has been granted a license by BIS for a full range of IS 7904. Developed in 5.5 and 6.0 mm product dimensions, this high carbon steel grade of wire rods is used in bridge cables, tyre reinforcement materials.