From January 28 to 30, the MRAI IMRC2025 was held in Jaipur, India. This time, I would like to introduce some of the companies I met on-site.

 

 

IRM (Indus Rawmetals) - Ms. Sunita Chouhan

 

Indus Raw Metals Pvt. Ltd. was established in 2007 and is a trading company based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. It deals in both ferrous and non-ferrous metal scraps and purchases Zorba and Zurik from Japan. The company imports e-waste from Europe and the United States. They mentioned that they are interested in purchasing zinc die-cast from Japan.

 

 

MIL

 

MIL India Inspection Services Pvt. Ltd. is an independent inspection company based in India and a subsidiary of Marine Inspection and Logistics International Rotterdam BV. It specializes in scrap inspection, marine surveys, and consulting services. The company caters to inspection needs across India, operating under internationally recognized standards. In other regions, they collaborate closely with a global office network spanning Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, China, Turkey, and the United States.

 

MIL also has an office in Penang and specializes in handling hazardous materials, including Basel-listed materials and lithium-ion batteries. In addition to advising on the loading of hazardous materials, they also export metal silicon and ferrochrome. In Japan, their main trading partner is Hanwa Co., Ltd.

 

 

 

Gravita

 

An interview was also held with Gravita, India's largest secondary lead smelting manufacturer.

Gravita operates smelting plants in five locations across India, with a combined monthly production of 10,000 tons of lead ingots.

In India, there are more than ten manufacturers producing over 100,000 tons of lead annually, collectively driving the country's lead recycling industry.

Out of India's total secondary lead ingot production of 1.5 million tons, the top 15 major companies produce 80% of it.

 

(From left: Mr. Tanamachi from IRuniverse, Mr. Pugzhenthy from ILZDA, and Mr. Pareek from Gravita)

 

When inquiring about the import of lead slag, it was noted that India does not permit its import. Although officially not allowed by the government, it is said that India is one of the largest destinations for lead slag exports from Japan, second only to Malaysia. While the official stance suggests compliance, in practice, lead slag may still be entering India through indirect channels.

 

At Gravita, lead slag with less than 3% lead content is disposed of domestically in cement manufacturers or government-approved landfill sites.

 

Additionally, while there are around 700 small, medium, and large-scale lead smelting companies in India, the 15 major firms dominate 80% of the secondary production, indicating that smaller smelters operate on a much smaller scale.

 

Gravita employs rotary furnace-based dry smelting and produces 99.985% pure lead, along with various alloyed lead products. The company is also focusing on aluminum alloy production. In Japan, they supply lead ingots to GS Yuasa.

 

For lead production from lead ore, Hindustan Zinc is the only company engaged in primary production, with an output of 250,000 tons. This is the only primary lead production in India.

 

India mainly exports 4N and 3N7 lead ingots to South Korea and Vietnam.

 

The primary source of lead battery scrap in India is domestic, with about 2.5 million tons generated locally and around 500,000 tons imported annually. Importing lead battery scrap requires a license.

 

When I mentioned that Chinese-affiliated lead smelting companies are increasing in Japan, with at least five or six confirmed smelting plants in operation, they were surprised. In India, strict recycling licenses are required, and foreign-owned companies cannot enter the market independently. As a result, no Chinese-affiliated lead smelting plants exist in India. This highlighted the importance of having a strict licensing system in Japan as well, to prevent traditional Japanese lead smelting manufacturers from being gradually pushed out of the industry.

 

 

(IRuniverse Tanamachi, Lin)

 

 

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