Company sharpening focus on Indian market
With the Indian commercial vehicle industry switching over to new standards in terms of product quality and reliability, apart from a 
number of other aspects, the focus is often on product features related to performance, comfort, safety and technology, though the primary raw material, steel, is generally overlooked. An insight into the manufacture of commercial vehicles, and related applications such as tippers, trailers and bulkers, highlights the crucial role played by the quality and grade of steel involved in vehicle manufacturing. Over the last few years, a number of local and global steel companies have stepped up focus on the Indian market, eyeing a potential steel revolution in the country’s fast-growing automotive industry.
Swedish steel maker SSAB, a global leader in High Strength Steel (HSS), offers complete steel solutions with its unique breadth of products in different qualities and dimensions. The company drives development by continuously creating new, innovative solutions and developing new grades of steel. The use of HSS is steadily on the rise since, compared with standard steel, HSS offers considerable advantages in terms of performance, weight, stability and durability.
SSAB markets its steel under its own product brands, including the Hardox wear steel, one of the best-known steel brands globally. Its other brands include Domex structural steel, Docol for the automotive industry, Toolox, which is targeted at the manufacturing industry, Armox protection steel and Weldox extra-high strength structural steel.
The Swedish company has production plants in Sweden and the US, with a total production capacity of six million tonnes of crude steel annually. SSAB’s business activities are divided among three geographic regions namely EMEA, the Americas and the APAC countries. In order to ensure prompt delivery and provide value-added service to its customers, the company operates a warehouse in Singapore.
Strengthening Indian presence
In India, SSAB has appointed Ador Fontech Ltd. (ADFL), Bangalore, as its local partner 
for representing Hardox Wearparts. ADFL is one of the leading manufacturers of wear parts and wear services in the world and a pioneer in offering life enhancement solutions to the core industry.
“We entered the Indian market over a decade back and have established good presence ever since. Moving forward, we are keen on further strengthening our presence and since India is an emerging market, we find a lot of scope for our products here. Currently, our products for India are imported from Sweden but we are exploring various possibilities of setting up a local warehouse in the country”, says Ms. Iris Yang, Marketing & Communication Manager, SSAB APAC, in a conversation with MOTORINDIA at a recently-held trade show in Bangalore.
“Our products weigh lighter than regular steel which helps the end customers (fleet operators) carry heavy loads with reduced fuel consumption, thereby resulting in significant cost savings. We cater to some of the major vehicle manufacturers in the Indian on- and off-highway markets including Tata Motors, JCB, Volvo and Scania. We provide technical support and work with our customers in the design and processing of the steel and also collaborate with them on the development of new material”, he adds.
SSAB’s expertise in HSS evolves from its continuous research and development in the field. The company has state-of-the-art R&D centres in Sweden, China and the US, through which it focuses on developing innovative and path-breaking products for a variety of applications for different markets across the globe.