I often come across this question from my customers that whether they should use steel manufactured by SAIL/RINL/JINDAL only or should they use Tmt bars manufactured by secondary producers which is relatively cheaper. Due to lack of domain knowledge as to what makes the quality good OR bad, customers find it risky to use tmt bars produced by secondary manufacturer.
Difference between steel manufactured by SAIL/VIZAG and that manufactured by secondary manufacturer is the process through which final product is achieved. Primary manufacturers use Iron Ore & Coking coal as their raw material and melt the material by using BOF process i.e. in a Blast Furnace. Whereas secondary manufacturers use a more efficient Induction Furnace method and use Sponge Iron, Pig Iron & Scrap as their raw material. Surprised aren’t you? Apart from the process there is no significant difference between both the finished product.
Below are few criteria which decides quality of any given TMT Bars Fe500 D Quality specified in IS 1786 :
| Chemical Components | Range | Physical Components | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon % (MAX) | 0.25 | Yield Stress (MPA) min | 500 |
| Sulphur % (MAX) | 0.04 | Tensile Strength (MPA) min | 565 |
| Phosphorous (MAX) | 0.04 | Elongation % min | 16 |
| Manganese (MAX) | 1.00 |
Technically speaking, if a steel qualifies the above quality parameters, there is no difference between steel produced by primary manufacturers & secondary manufacturers. By the way, ministry of steel in india has already allowed use of Tmt bars manufactured through Induction melting route to be used in government infrastructure projects.
Now lets take into consideration of below scenarios:
Scenario 1: Buyer has a requirement of 100MT TMT Bars Fe500D grade in Mumbai and he decides to buy SAIL/RINL material only, below is the cost incurred by company:
| Cost Description | Cost/ MT | Quantity in MT | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material Cost | 39150* | 100 | 39,15,000 |
| Transport | 500* | 100 | 50,000 |
| Testing Cost | NIL due to reputation of brand | 0 | |
| GRAND TOTAL | 39,65,000 |
*Approximate figures excluding sales tax
Scenario 2: Buyer decides to use cost efficient Fe500D TMT Bars manufactured by secondary manufactures
We can see from the above illustration that user can use material manufactured by secondary manufacturer and can be double sure by doing 2 tests per lot supplied which will ensure that only good quality of steel is consumed in construction. By doing so he can save 7-10% of the cost which is huge.
For more information and enquiries you can mail us @ sales@agarwalsteelcorp.com and our representative will get in touch with you for your requirement.