RSRM launches top quality rod to cash in on high-rise boom

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Jasim Uddin Haroon
A local company said Sunday it has launched finest quality rod in the country as Bangladesh's construction industry looks for quake-resistance steel for increasing number of high-rise buildings.
Ratanpur Steels and Rerolling Mills (RSRM), a Chittagong-based manufacturer, started marketing 75-grade mild steel rod --- described as the highest degree of strength by local experts - late last year, hoping to cash in on growing quality consciousness among the developers. A tonne of the 75-grade MS rod would cost Tk 55,000.
The company's managing director MA Rahman told the FE that his group has invested Tk2.00 billion in his state-of-the-art steel factory with technlogy from Siemens and Flender of Germany and Shimazu of Japan.
He claimed the rod produced by his factory at Baizid Bostami in south-western part of the port city is the "best in Bangladesh market" and it would save steel cost in a building by at least 20 per cent.
"The demand for quality rod is growing fast. There has been a sea-change among the developers who now look for best quality steel products to construct their multi-storied buildings," Rahman said.
"We have sent our rod to laboratories in the country to test its strength. The labs have certified that ours is the best," he said, citing results from BUET.
The RSRM was launched as a manual low-grade rod producer in 1984. But the company, which uses scraps to produce billets, overhauled its manufacturing plant late last year to produce 75-grade MS rod.
Its latest plant can now make 60 tonnes of quality rod every hour using some 200,000 tonnes of billet its produces annually.
An expert said RSRM's graduation into superior technology reflects a growing shift in the country's steel industry.
"Companies like RSRM, BSRM and KSRM who used to churn out low 40-grade rods have now become champions of quality in the steel sector," said Jahangir Alam, a professor of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET).
"We have tested RSRM's rods and found them at par with the latest western standards."
"These high-quality rods cost more but a constructor needs fewer amount in a building. They can also resist major earthquakes," Alam, who is also the country's leading quake expert, said.
He said more and more real estate developers are now using top quality rods in their high-rise constructions, boosting the growth of high-grade steel industry.
Bangladesh's booming construction industry uses 2.5 million tonnes of rods a every, with high-grade steel making up some 20 per cent of the total demand.
BSRM with its Extreme-brand top quality steel is the market leader, accounting for a quarter of the rod market.