IREFCON 2020: The 13th India International Refractories Congress
IREFCON 2020 will be held in Kolkata/IN at the Westin Rajarhat on 12–14 February 2020. Rinus Sebring from Tata Steel Europe is invited as keynote speaker.
Various industry estimates peg the refractory market in India to leap to up to 4 Mt in the next 10 years. For instance, Indian steel manufacturing alone has set itself a target of 300 Mt by 2030. Considering 75 % of refractory consumption in India is accounted for by steel, adding cement, glass and manufacturing of other non-ferrous metals to the mix suddenly makes the prospect of a 4-Mt-refractory-market look very real and reasonable.
In recent times, Indian customers have relied heavily on imports as Indian refractory businesses have been unable to fully satiate their demand, not only in terms of volume but also technology that improves life and performance of refractories. A major cause for supply side constraints is raw material availability. And then there’s government policy. Clearly, despite all challenges, the opportunity is real. Let’s discuss challenges and opportunities vis-a-vis: raw material, domestic production capacity, technology and processes, policy, customers and talent.
