Jouni Rättyä, Vice President, Ruukki MetalsIt's time for consolidation. Having set up its distribution facility in India recently, Ruukki Metals Trading and Marketing India Pvt Ltd is now set to make its mark in the competitive market of structural steel and mining. Jouni Rättyä, Vice-President, Ruukki Metals and Rakesh Sharma, Associate Director, Steelforce South Asia, chat with Shriyal Sethumadhavan about the company's upcoming plans and its target market....Tell us something about the company and its presence in India.Rättyä: Ruukki is divided into three sister concerns. The first is Ruukki Metals, which makes traditional steel materials and stands for about 50 per cent of the turnover. The second is construction, which is into steel materials for buildings and related products like frames, roofing material, sandwich panels, and for heavy infrastructure like bridge foundations. The third division is into engineering, which deals with systems and components for heavy industries like lifting and handling, transport, and oil and gas. The materials involved are all kinds of welded structures like booms and cabins. Each of the latter two divisions stands for about 25 per cent of the turnover.With 12,000 people in the company and activities in 28 countries, we recently opened our office in India after systematically building up the business, with Steelforce as our sales arm for the past two to three years.How can Ruukki contribute to infrastructure building in India?Sharma: Our business mainly relates to the mechanisation of operations in our focal sectors. India is still far behind developed countries in this regard, as we stick to using conventional methods and skills. We supply steel to clients who make equipment for construction, mining and transportation. Some of these are big names like Telkom, Caterpillar, Tata Motors and others like bucket and mining equipment manufacturers.How affordable is your material?Sharma: We are quite competitively placed in the market, and that is how acceptability has increased. More than affordability, the end result is about the overall economic value obtained from the material, wherein even if the initial price is high, it is actually lower compared to the shelf life of the equipment.What technology does Ruukki employ in steel manufacturing?Rättyä: Steel manufacturing usually involves the regular method after which the material is put in storage and treated with heat, after which it is cooled in quick succession. However, at Ruukki, this process involves a single step that ensures consistent surface quality that is appealing and makes the machine look good. Also, the resulting smoother surface is an advantage as any irregularity can result in cracks.How do you view the Indian market? What will your focus be?Rättyä: We find the Indian market very interesting. We are concentrating on niche products like wear resistant and very high strength steel covers. Given the booming infrastructure in this country, we feel that our products are needed here. As India already has good local steel suppliers, our focus is on manufacturing steel for heavy machinery involved in this sector, like lifting and mining machinery, where one requires high strength wear-resistant steel.What are your future plans?Rättyä: We plan to expand our footprint in India and are quite well-known amongst customers. A challenge is in introducing local players to new technologies, for which we are providing technical support where the customer is informed about the material, its applications and properties.Apart from this, we are now focusing more on the environment by using recycled steel as far as possible. Our manufacturing process, too, is environment-friendly and results in low emissions. We stand in first place in this industry as far as sustainability is concerned, which is a great achievement, given that steel industries are known for polluting the environment.To share your views on these interviews, write in at feedback@ASAPPmedia.com