Case study

Calderys plant in Odisha breaks import Dependency with local Manufacturing

In the steel industry, supply chain reliability is critical—and when lead times for refractory materials stretch to 3 months with forced inventory holdings, operational flexibility suffers.

At a leading steel producer in southern India, the Calderys team in India saw an opportunity to transform their refractory supply chain.

Traditionally, this customer relied on imported materials, a method that extended lead times to 90 days and tied up significant working capital in excessive inventory. This meant limited supply flexibility, increased warehousing costs, and dependence on a single source. To transform this situation, Calderys introduced locally manufactured basic monolithics from our CAPES facility in Odisha:

  • EOF-grade basic gunning masses

  • Manufactured at CAPES with the basic monolithics line operational since September 2025

  • Engineered formulations combining global expertise with local production

Basic monolithics at the Calderys plant in Odisha, India (CAPES) are specifically formulated for demanding steel production applications including EOF,  EAFR-H, and ladle operations. 

Find out  more about the basic monolithics portfolio here.

Find out more information about CAPES here.

This local manufacturing approach enabled the team to deliver an 83% lead time reduction—from 90 days to just 15 days—while maintaining performance standards. As a result, the customer freed working capital previously tied up in inventory and gained supply chain resilience with measurable improvements across operational efficiency, commercial advantage, and strategic partnership.

This success didn't just deliver technical performance—it provided clear commercial value by reducing lead times, lowering inventory costs, and establishing reliable local supply for India's growing steel industry.

Contact us for more information at: https://calderys.com/contact