Usha Martin is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of wire rope. Established in the year 1960, today Usha Martin is a multi-unit and multi-product organization.
The wire rope manufacturing facilities located in Ranchi, Hoshiarpur, Dubai, Bangkok and UK produce one of the widest ranges of wire ropes in the world. Rajeev Jhawar, the son of Brij Jhawar, is the managing director of Usha Martin Limited since May 19, 2018, and in the three decades that he has been at the helm of the Usha Martin Group. According to Rajeev Jhawar, the various measures announced by the Central government to boost the economy are likely to start yielding results post-monsoon of 2020.
Usha Martin Manufacture:
Wire rope manufacturer Usha Martin Ltd (UML) is expecting domestic demand, particularly in the construction and auto sectors, to start picking up post-monsoon. According to Rajeev Jhawar, Managing Director, UML, the various measures announced by the Central government to boost the economy are likely to start yielding results post-monsoon.
According to Mr Rajeev Jhawar, they expect post-monsoon things should be better. There should be a pick-up in demand during the festival season post-September-October, by which time they hope that the Covid situation would also be brought slightly under control. The economy was badly struck by the pandemic and lockdown. But the stimulus package by the government and the lifting of restrictions post lockdown shows a sign of fresh growth, says Rajeev Jhawar.
While the demand for wire rope has been “fairly decent” in international markets, the domestic demand across various sectors has been very low due to the lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, he added. The reverse migration of labourers had affected industries such as construction, particularly in the western and northern regions of the country. This impacted the demand for wire rope.
UML Business:
UML’s wire rope business manufactures wire, strands, LRPC and wire ropes, which cater to various industries, including steel, infrastructure, construction and auto. Rajeev says that the demand from the construction, auto and oil sectors is down. Their plant has reduced its manufacturing and is currently operating at 50-55 per cent of the installed capacity. The export demand is, however, good and the rupee depreciation is supporting UML.
The company is hopeful of ramping up capacities by the second half of this fiscal once the Covid situation is brought under control and the domestic demand starts picking up. Rajeev Jhawar says that they have a manufacturing capacity of around 2,30,000 tonnes per annum across its two facilities in India — at Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Hoshiarpur (Punjab) — and three overseas units in the UK, Thailand and Dubai. Talking about exports, Rajeev Jhawar said the demand for wire rope has been “fairly decent”, if not strong, from markets such as Europe, the US, South America, Australia and South-East Asia.