Why High Alumina Bricks Are So Much Favoured By User Industries?

High alumina bricks contain aluminum oxide and traces of several other materials. Their refractoriness – ability to withstand extreme heat conditions – increases with an increase in alumina percentage. This means the more alumina you put into a brick, the more heat resistant it becomes. However, more alumina also means the cost of the bricks would increase.

Alumina – the oxide - offers incredible benefits like hardness, strength and spalling resistance. The oxide is insoluble in water and super-heated steam, and in most inorganic acids and alkalis.

High alumina bricks are most commonly used in cement, lime and ceramic kilns, hearth & shaft of blast furnaces, and in lead drossing furnaces. The experts say high alumina bricks carry the all-purpose characteristics of fire clay bricks into higher heat conditions, making them fit for lining the furnaces operating up to 3350°F.

High alumina bricks can be segregated as mullite refractories and corundum refractories. Mullite refractories contain 72 per cent alumina and 28 per cent silica. Corundum, on the other hand, contains 99 per cent alumina!

Besides alumina refractories, a typical refractory plant produces fire clay bricks, castables, ramming masses & mortars, and gunning mixes. Steel, glass, non-ferrous, and aluminum are among the top consumers of refractories products in the world.

Nearly a Third of India's Top Companies Under Debt-Stress

The depressing economic conditions have jolted a number of top performing companies in India. As a rough estimate, nearly a third of India's top companies are seeing their profits dipping, and debts rising like never before. In good times, these Indian top companies had launched aggressive growth plans, mainly funded through debts, hoping the demand growth would remain robust in the coming years. It didn't.

Unfortunately, things didn't go their way. And that pushed these companies deep down into debts; many of these companies are now either financially insolvent or on the verge of it. And they can't even use equity market to raise capital to ease their sufferings. These companies are finding themselves in a spiral of plummeting profits, increasing liabilities and shrinking markets. The economic slowdown has clearly taken a heavy toll on the financial performance of these companies.

However, many industry insiders say there is nothing much to worry about. The situation like this is pretty normal in an economic downturn. They are quite optimistic about these companies getting back to the normal track. And the projects - that were started when the economy was doing good – are likely to pay back sufficient to cover debt servicing. But all this remains to be seen. Till then we can only keep our fingers crossed and wait.