UBL mainly makes steel, wire and wire rope and jelly-filled copper cable at its plants in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Silvassa.

"Since export will be a major thrust area of our marketing operations following the expansion of our capacities, we are going to set up our own marketing offices in Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore, as well as in Bangladesh," company joint managing director P Bhattacharyya told The Financial Express.

So far the company has been managing its exports to these countries with the help of local agents. When ready, these offices would be headed by Indian employees, and locals would constitute the rest of the staff.

"Setting up of outlets has become necessary for us, as we have expanded our steel and rope-making capacity. Moreover, with the acquisition of higher-end rope maker Brinton Shaw in the UK and EMMC in Middle East, we are expecting major globalisation of our integrated steel, wire and wire rope business," he said.

EMMC is present in Aberdeen, Baku and Dubai and its distribution network includes the UK, Scan, Houston, South Africa and other places. UBL is now expanding its steel-making capacity from the present 220,000 tonnes to 350,000 tonnes at a capital cost of about Rs 80 crore, which is likely to be completed by the end of the current fiscal. The 215 cubic metre mini blast furnace with a designed capacity to produce 10,000 tonnes a month has been technologically upgraded. It achieved production of more than 17,500 tonnes in December.

The company is also chalking out a plan to enhance the capacity of its wire & wire rope factory from the present monthly level of 7,000 tonnes to about 10,000 tonnes.