Bangladesh Steels
ABUL KHAIR STEEL PRODUCTS LTD: Company Case Study
ABUL KHAIR STEEL PRODUCTS LIMITED
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Abul Khair Steel Products Ltd (AKSP) is a newly established large metal finishing plant in Bangladesh, that produces a range of steel products, such as cold rolled (CR) coils, galvanized steel (GS) sheets and corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets. AKSP was established in 1999 as a private limited company and currently employs about 650 staff, with large expatriate technical team, mostly from India. The installed production capacity of the plant is 150,000 tons CGI sheets and 300,000 tons CR coils per year. Actual production for the base year 2002 was 130,943 tons. Due to steep increase in steel prices and competition in the market, demand for their products is low and the company is operating at 50% lower than the installed capacity. As a result, their total production was only 85,000 tons in 2004. The company’s production is mostly for the domestic market but is also exported to 13 countries. AKSP recently obtained ISO 9001: 2000 certification. High electricity consumption is a major concern and for this reason top management decided to participate in the GERIAP project.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The plant’s main raw material is hot rolled (HR) coils, which is imported from Japan, Korea, India and Russia. Major production process steps are Pickling, Cold Rolling, Annealing, Galvanizing and Corrugating. A short description of the major steps is given below and a process flow chart is shown on the next page. Pickling: Hot rolled coils have a layer of oxide on their surface. Pickling ensure removal of surface oxides by chemical treatment using hydrochloric acid, prior to the cold rolling process. Production lines have an edge-trimming facility and built-in features to avoid under/over pickling. For high production of strips of 1.2 mm to 6.5 mm thickness, continuous lines are
ABUL KHAIR STEEL PRODUCTS LIMITED
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Abul Khair Steel Products Ltd (AKSP) is a newly established large metal finishing plant in Bangladesh, that produces a range of steel products, such as cold rolled (CR) coils, galvanized steel (GS) sheets and corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) sheets. AKSP was established in 1999 as a private limited company and currently employs about 650 staff, with large expatriate technical team, mostly from India. The installed production capacity of the plant is 150,000 tons CGI sheets and 300,000 tons CR coils per year. Actual production for the base year 2002 was 130,943 tons. Due to steep increase in steel prices and competition in the market, demand for their products is low and the company is operating at 50% lower than the installed capacity. As a result, their total production was only 85,000 tons in 2004. The company’s production is mostly for the domestic market but is also exported to 13 countries. AKSP recently obtained ISO 9001: 2000 certification. High electricity consumption is a major concern and for this reason top management decided to participate in the GERIAP project.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The plant’s main raw material is hot rolled (HR) coils, which is imported from Japan, Korea, India and Russia. Major production process steps are Pickling, Cold Rolling, Annealing, Galvanizing and Corrugating. A short description of the major steps is given below and a process flow chart is shown on the next page. Pickling: Hot rolled coils have a layer of oxide on their surface. Pickling ensure removal of surface oxides by chemical treatment using hydrochloric acid, prior to the cold rolling process. Production lines have an edge-trimming facility and built-in features to avoid under/over pickling. For high production of strips of 1.2 mm to 6.5 mm thickness, continuous lines are