International Zinc Association (IZA) in association with Hindustan Zinc is organizing 2nd International Galvanizing Conference in Delhi which will be inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Mines, Power and Coal. This 2-day conference will have over 20 speakers from industries and institutions like Hindustan Zinc, JSW, Tata Steel, PGCIL, Maruti, ESSAR, International Lead-Zinc Development Association and IIT Mumbai.

The 2-day conference will deliberate on potential zinc and steel market, role of zinc in infrastructure, application in emerging sectors like automobiles, rail-tracks and galvanization of rebar to strengthen the structures, particularly, which are near coastal areas. The conference will also focus on how corrosion losses can boost the GDP of Indian Economy.

CEO of Hindustan Zinc, Sunil Duggal said, “India loses around 4-5% of GDP annually on account of corrosion losses. Western countries, which are far ahead of us in terms of Infrastructure, mandate the use of Galvanizing for the Steel Structures used for bridges, highways, public utility, Airports, Metro Stations, Railways stations etc. and that is how they are able to preserve long-lasting and robust structures. For instance, Athens Bridge Pennsylvania & Curtis Road Bridge Michigan are structures that utilize Galvanized Steel rebars and have much longer lifespan than the conventional bridges built with normal black steel rebar, as galvanized rebar can withstand chloride concentration at least four to five times higher than the black steel rebar and remains passivated at lower pH levels, substantially slowing the rate of corrosion. The country is going through the phase of urbanization and in the upcoming Infrastructure boom, Galvanizing, indeed plays a very important and irreplaceable role.”

Zinc, the anti-corrosion element is 2016’s top performer among base metals. According to industrial sources, almost 58% of the zinc mined across the world is used for galvanizing. 14% is for die-casting, 10% for alloys and in brass making, 9% in chemicals, 6% in rolled zinc and 3% is used for other miscellaneous purpose.

Industry experts believe zinc when used for galvanization in construction, acts as a boon to the steel industry. On exposure to water or humidity, Zinc corrodes preferentially and gives cathodic protection to iron. Building and construction industries use at least 2/3rd of the entire coated steel strip produced, mainly for roofing and cladding of commercial and industrial buildings. Much of the material used in building has a mill-applied organic coating on top of the zinc. The coastal regions are more prone to corrosion and thus use of galvanized steel would give them much needed breather. Hot dip galvanizing in its original form is also a growing industry globally. Casting stands out to be another important area which is based on new alloys and new technology. Competition from plastics threatened the market for zinc casting in the 1970s, but the development of new alloys and dramatic improvements in process control enabled zinc casting to hold their own in many areas, particularly where strength and applied finishes were required. Since the casting could be much thinner, less metal was used, it also reduced the weight and improved the quality but reduced the cost.

Zinc can also be recycled indefinitely without degradation. Thus there is also a specific market for zinc scrap and residues are classified, traded and priced according to zinc content and to the economics of turning the scrap into a useful product.

Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta group company, world’s leading and India’s only integrated zinc-lead-silver producer is investing over Rs. 8000 crore towards expansion of its mines and smelting operations. The Company is set to increase its mine metal production to 1.2 million tonnes per annum.