Usha Martin, the Kolkata-based specialty steel maker and wire rope manufacturer is planning to go for acquisition of wire rope units in the United States while aiming at export earnings of Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) during the current fiscal.
"We are looking at opportunities (for acquisitions) in India and abroad. We have our presence in all the continents except the US. So we may look at that market," joint managing director P Bhattacharya said.
UML, the second-largest wire rope maker in the world, was also planning to set up shops in Australia and Saudi Arabia for its wire rope distribution business, he said.
While the Australian venture would be a wholly-owned subsidiary, the one in Saudi Arabia would be set up in association with a local partner, Bhattacharya said.
The company currently has manufacturing facilities in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, United Kingdom, Thailand and United Arab Emirates and a worldwide distribution, service and marketing network.
Meanwhile, the company, which registered export earnings of about Rs 215 crore (Rs 2.15 billion) in 2003, was aiming at a significant rise in its export performance.
"We are aiming at an export revenue of over Rs 400 crore this year," he said. The company's wire rope export to Singapore registered a quantum jump of 52 per cent during the first half of current fiscal.
UML was now focussing on export of special application rope and opening of sales office in Australia to cater to the mining sector, Rajiv Jhawar managing director said.
Besides exports, the company was also aiming to become the largest producer of wire rope in the world. "Our current production level is about 75,000 tonnes per annum. We have to increase our production to about 85,000 tonnes to bag the number one slot," Bhattacharya said.
About the mining venture of the company, he said operation at the iron ore mine block was expected to start within next six months while the same at its coal mine block would take about 18 months. The estimated reserves at both the mines was about 30 million tonnes, he said.
The company, which supplied about 2,000-2,500 tonnes of wire rope to elevator maker Otis, expected huge opportunities of growth for specialty steel and wire rope business in US and other developed markets in the coming years.
About the cable wire business, Bhattacharya said the company had closed its Ranchi unit in view of the sluggish market conditions but improved the facilities at Silvasa to cater top quality products to the telecom firms.
"The cable wire business contributed Rs 63 crore (Rs 630 million) to our total revenue. It will continue as a non-core business but will not be closed," he said. Usha Martin Infotech was working for a project for Oman Tele, he added.