Dolomite :

Market Analysis in East India

Pranay Kumar
Waris Ahmed
Prabhash Gokarn
FAMD, Tata Steel Limited
Disclaimer

 The presentation is an amalgamation of authors’ own

views and thoughts.

 Tata Steel does not necessarily subscribe to the views

and thoughts expressed in the presentation and should
not be held responsible for the same.

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What is Dolomite
 Dolomite(also called Dolstone or dolomitic limestone) is a
naturally occurring crystalline sedimentary rock comprising
of a hydrated carbonate of Magnesium & Calcium, i.e.
(CaMg(CO3)2)x . (H2O)y.
 Dolomite is used as flux in the iron and steel making
processes and in some refractory applications(tar-dolo bricks,
dead burnt dolo refractories etc. Other applications are use
for making float glass, as a nutrient added to soil, as fish feed
etc. As over 80% of the demand for Dolomite is from the
steel industry, the fortunes of Dolomite mirror that of Steel.

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Use of Dolomite in Steel Industry

Steel
Refractory

Ferro Alloy

Sponge Iron

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Major Uses Of Dolomite In Steel Making
Key Players in East India
Industry Process Role of Dolomite Consumption Rate
(Consumers)
Desulphurization of 20 to 30 kg/MT of Tata Sponge, Ganesh
Sponge iron Rotary Kiln
reductants Sponge Iron Metaliks

Ferro Iron Electric Arc Desulphurization of 20 to 30 kg/MT of Tata Sponge, Ganesh

Producers Furnace reductants Sponge Iron Metaliks

Tata Steel, RSP, Tata

Steel Blast Furnace, Prepare required Slag 125 kg / MT hot Metaliks, Bhushan steel &
Production Sinter Making Chemistry Metal Power, Jindal Stainless,
NINL
Sintering/
As a ingredient in Mag- Tata Refractories,
Refractory Agglomeration, 0.8MT/MT dolo
Carbon and Tar Dolo Singhbhum Refractories,
Production Pressing, refractory
Refractories Others
Curing

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Dolomite Market Breakup

Flux in Iron Making ,

86% Dolo based
Refractory, 4%

FeMn flux, 4%

Sponge Iron flux, 7%

As over 80% of the demand for Dolomite is from the steel industry,
the fortunes of Dolomite mirror that of Steel.
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Markets & Customers-
Customers- location in India

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Occurrence Of Dolomite In India
The major dolomite reserves are located in Eastern & Central India

State Recoverable (%) of total reserve

Reserves
( In Million MT)
Madhya Pradesh 1867 26
Orissa 882 12
Andhra Pradesh 805 11
Chhatiisgarh 606 14
Rajasthan 167 2
INDIA 7531

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Major Sources of Dolomite In India
Mapped To Customers
NAME State Major customers

BIRD companies (SAIL) Orissa SAIL Plants, Others

Bardwar Based Chhattisgarh JSPL, other steel producers
Bhawnatpur Based Jharkhand Bokaro Steel Plant
Tata Steel, Gomardih Orrisa SAIL Plants, Others
A N Patnaik Orrisa SAIL Plants, Others
V K Lal Orrisa SAIL Plants, Others
Bhutan Based Suppliers Bhutan Durgapur Ferro Alloy Producers, Tata Steel & others
Others
ANP VKL 12%
1.5% 1%

Tata Bird
4% 40%

Bhawnatpur
26%

Bardwar
16%
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Capacity of Major Dolomite Producers
East & Central India

Major Dolo Producers Capacities(MT)

BISRA STONE & LIME BIRMITRAPUR, ORISSA 2,000,000
BARADWAR BASED MINES BILASPUR, CHHATTISGARH 2,500,000
BHAWANATHPUR MINES, JHARKHAND 500,000
TATA STEEL, ORISSA 500,000
A.N.PATNAIK, ORISSA 250,000
V.K.LALL, ORISSA 150,000
MID-EAST CARBON,ORISSA 100,000
Others 2,000,000
Total Capacity of the above 8,000,000

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Transport : A Major Cost
Dolomite Markets/Trade

There is no significant international trade due to its widespread

occurrence. It is a low price, high volume product.

Logistics costs a significant proportion of total cost with

transportation costs, almost equal to dolomite price and so
transportation cost is the determining factor for all sales.

Since freight is an important element of landed cost, most customers

are located near the dolomite mines and in Eastern India.

Nearby Sponge Iron Industries are served by road transport(since

quantity is lower), where as Steel & Ferro Alloy plants are served
mainly using the railway network.

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Major Consumers : Steel Plants

Hot metal Average Own Captive

Sl Major Steel Dolomite Requirement
production (‘000 Consumption mines ('000 Major Suppliers
No Producers ('000 MTPA)
MTPA) Rate (Kg/ton) MTPA)
Own Capive Mines, BISRA,
1 SAIL 14,500 125 2,200 1,000
AN Patnaik, VK LAL
Own Mines + Bhutan Based
Suppliers which have almost
2 Tata Steel Ltd 6,800 25-30 180 500
no alkali content & very low
Silica content
3 Essar Steel 4,000 100 400 0 IDEAL Mines Rajashthan
Own Capive Mines although
4 JSW 7,000 125 875 855 buy some qty from open
market
5 JSPL 3,000 125 375 0 Chhatiisgarh based suppliers
Chhatiisgarh, Rajashthan
6 Ispat 2,750 125 344 0
based suppliers
7 Bhushan 2,000 125 250 0 BISRA, AN Patnaik, VK LAL
8 RINL 5,000 125 625 0 BISRA & Others
9 NINL 1,000 125 125 0 BISRA, AN Patnaik, VK LAL
10 Others 9,000 125 1,125 Mix of suppliers
Total 55,050 6,499

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Major Consumers : Sponge Iron Plants
India has emerged as world’s largest sponge iron producer since 2001. Most
of them are coal based units located in Eastern & South East India, whereas
a few gas based units are in West, South-West India.

The total installed capacity of sponge iron units(more than 200) is 25 million
MTPA while production was around 22 million MT(2009-10). Chhattisragh,
Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal are the leading sponge iron producing
state in the country.

Major Sponge Iron producers are Tata Sponge Iron Ltd(4 Lakh TPA), Orissa
Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd(2.5 Lakh TPA), Visa Steel Ltd(3 Lakh TPA).

Sponge Iron Average Dolomite

production Consumption Rate Requirement Major Suppliers
('000 MTPA) (Kg/ton) ('000 MTPA)
Own Capive Mines,
Sponge Iron
22,000 25 550 BISRA, AN Patnaik,
Producers
VK LAL, Tata Steel

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Major Consumers : Ferro Alloy Industry
India has emerged as a large producer of Manganese Alloys, a significant
quantity of which is exported. Dolomite is used a flux, specially in the
production of Ferro Manganese.
Mn Alloys
Average Consumption Dolomite Requirement
Sl No Mn Ferro Alloy Producers production ('000
Rate (Kg/ton) ('000 MTPA)
MTPA)
1 Maithan Alloys 90 275 25
2 Tata Steel 51 275 14
3 Shyam Group 75 275 21
4 NBFA 65 275 18
5 Chattisgarh 63 275 17
6 Impex Group 40 275 11
7 Monnet 40 275 11
8 Srinivas Ferro Alloys 85 275 23
9 MEL 120 275 33
10 Others 271 275 75
Total 900 248

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Dolomite - Prospects

Linked to Steel – and steel is projected to grow in India,

mostly in the East. Hence, the market for Dolomite
should also continue to grow.
Linked to Ferro Alloy Production – and India is emerging
as a major manganese ferro alloy supplier to the global
steel industry – good news for the dolomite industry.
Can upscale new value added product options :
 Calcined Dolomite / Dead Burnt Dolomite for Refractories
 Processed Fluxes like DeSulphurization & DePhosphorization
compounds
 Extract Magnesite (MgO)

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