Triveni Enterprises recently completed 50 years in the steel business in Bengaluru. On this occasion, the company has introduced two new cut-to-length machines catering to the automotive and enclosure industries in India. Ashirwad Agarwal, Managing Director, Triveni Enterprises, shares more… Introduce us to your newly launched products. We have introduced two new products: High Strength CTL Line – This machine can process up to 550 Mpa YS material. It has been especially designed to fulfil the requirement of the commercial vehicle segment for their upcoming BS-VI models, wherein, the entire body design will be in HSS steel.Double Sided CRCA/GP CTL Line – This line will help enclosure manufacturing companies to produce better quality products at a competitive rate. What are your investments towards modernisation and expansion? We always keep modernisation of our plants and introduce new product lines. IoT – We are looking at introducing the same in our machines and systems, so that data flow will become seamless and will help us to reduce unwanted processes and errors.Cut and bend – TMT cut and bend offering through BIM technology is a major leap in the construction industry. This helps in reduction of time, money, wastages and manpower. We have started this product last year, and are working with few of the major construction companies in Karnataka.Online B2B trading of steel, METALSTREET is a platform where both, the supplier and customer, can look for information wrt their offering and requirements respectively. They can complete the entire transaction online. It helps people to discover new products, best pricing, complete logistical solutions, etc. What are the current challenges faced by the steel industry? Post manufacturing services are not up to the mark in India. Globally, a steel service centre is responsible to deliver steel to the end users not the mills. We are yet to adopt this model in India. Further, few steel service centres are yet to upgrade their machines to meet the future demands of the automotive industry. People are unsure about the future demand scenario. Besides, steel traders are still working out of shops and are using archaic model of conducting business. At Triveni Enterprises, high skilled professionals are managing the business; our steel service centre is of global standards and is helping change the way people conduct business. How do you view the scenario in terms of price stability? The recent price hike by domestic steel companies, supported by improving demand and firming up of global steel prices in anticipation of a US-China trade deal, may significantly improve their margins during the fourth quarter of this financial year. The price increases are being supported by dealer restocking owing to an improvement in overall demand. Domestic steel prices were increased by Rs 1,500-1,800 a tonne, or nearly 4 per cent recently. It was the third successive price hike in the last three months and took the total price hike to 9 per cent or Rs 2,500-3,000 per tonne. Volatile steel pricing is not good for anyone today, but in this globalised world, various factors come into play in order to determine the steel pricing. Today, BIS restrictions, MIP, etc, have helped Indian steel companies to sustain pressure from global companies.