Austria's Voestalpine eyes 10% share of India's welding market

Austria-based Voestalpine group, which last month acquired a Delhi-based company, is eying 10 per cent share in the welding products market in India in the next 4-5 years.
Voestalpine Bohler Welding, a part of metal engineering division of Austria-based Voestalpine group, acquired Delhi-based Maruti Weld Pvt Ltd which had a revenue Rs 56 crore (6.7 million euros) in 2012.
Voestalpine group manufactures consumable welding products like premium steel strips, electrical steel strips, heavy plates, cast products, tool steel, forged parts, rails, wires among other products.
It has presence in 28 countries with 12 production sites.
"We are aspiring to grab 10 per cent of the market share of welding consumables in India in the next four to five years. After acquisition of Maruti Weld, whose manufacturing plant is located in Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, our present market share is about 5 per cent," Voestalpine Bohler Welding's Global CEO Gunter Neureiter told PTI.

There are 80 players in the segment in India at present. The Indian welding consumable industry is pegged at Rs 3,345 crore (400 million euros), growing at the rate of 9 per cent.

Neureiter said the company's top priority at present is to achieve a total production capacity of 20,000 tonnes of high quality electrodes and flux cored wires production at Bhiwadi facility, which is running at half its capacity.
The acquisition, he said, comes as a part of global expansion plan of Voestalpine Bohler Welding which aims to grow and develop into a one-stop provider in the welding consumables market and is specially focusing at the energy sector.

"With significant revenues coming from outside Europe, it was only natural for us to tap the high growth Indian market with presence in local production. This will help us provide a competitive product portfolio," Neureiter said.
He said: "This production facility also provides us a strong base to address demand in the fast growing markets of Middle East and Africa."
He added that the company also planned to add about 20 per cent manpower to the present 180 strength at its Bhiwadi facility besides imparting training to the present workforce to bring them at par with the global technology knowledge.

The acquisition provides it a production portfolio of over 75 grades ranging from mild steel to low hydrogen steel.
The company has been operating in India since 2006 and caters to oil and gas, pipeline, chemical and power sectors.
In 2012-13, Voestalpine Metal Engineering Division and its business unit generated global revenue of about 2.9 billion euros of which 40 per cent was from outside Europe.
Besides India, the Group invested in a plant in China and doubled production capacity at Jakarta facility besides acquiring Trafilerie di Cittadella in Italy.