Production and Technology of Iron and Steel in Japan During 2010

Home , Japan Steel Works, Topy Industries

ISIJ International, Vol. 51 (2011), No. 6, pp. 857–869 Review Production and Technology of Iron and Steel in Japan during 2010

The Technical Society, The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan

remained stagnant due to the rapid appreciation of the yen 1. Overview of the Japanese Iron and Steel Industry and concerns regarding a slowdown in overseas economies. During the period from 2009 through 2010, the Japanese (Cabinet Office: Monthly Economic Report (January 2011), economy overcame the global financial crisis of 2008 and Economic Review of FY 2011 and Basic Policy on Economic substantially recovered, bolstered by foreign demand and and Fiscal Management (January 24, 2011)). government economic measures aimed at creating demand China’s gross domestic product of 2010 increased by and supporting employment. As a result, positive growth is 10.3% from the previous year in real terms, and China sur- expected for the first time in 3 years, with the real economic passed Japan to become the world’s 2nd largest economy growth rate of all domestic industries forecast at approxi- after the United States. mately 3.1% for fiscal year 2010, and the nominal growth A new growth strategy which will enable Japan to escape rate, which is closer to the national business sentiment, the stagnant growth and deflationary tendencies which have expected to be on the order of 1.1% (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, persisted over the past 2 decades has become an urgent mat- since the second half of 2010, economic conditions have ter. In June 2010, the Japanese government announced a “New Growth Strategy” which laid out strategic national projects in 7 strategic fields, including green innovation, life innovation, etc. in order to strengthen the economy, public finances, and social security. Implementation of policies for early realization of this strategy is desired. Reviewing conditions in the Japanese iron and steel industry in 2010, under the circumstances described above, crude steel production returned to the 100 million ton level for the first time in 2 years (calendar year base) as a result of a recovery of exports to the emerging nations, centering on Asian nations currently enjoying high growth rates, and recovery of domestic demand supported by the government’s economic stimulus measures. Production exceeded 90% of the level prior to the global financial crisis (Fig. 2). However, in the near-term, the economy has remained stagnant since the summer of 2010 due to the end of government economic measures and the effects of the rapid appreciation of the yen, among other negative factors, making the future difficult to predict. On the other hand, there were also several positive developments in 2010 which were important for the iron and steel industry. These included a Cabinet decision to reduce the effective corporate tax rate by 5% in the revision of the tax system in FY 2011, by the issue of global warming, the fact that COP16 avoided an exten- Fig. 1. Trends of actual gross domestic product of Japan & Growth sion of the Kyoto Protocol, and by the issue of resources, rate source: Report of CSTP. avoided an abandonment of consolidation plans by major

Fig. 2. Trends of crude steel production of Japan. Source: Report of JISF.

857 © 2011 ISIJ ISIJ International, Vol. 51 (2011), No. 6 resource suppliers. 38.5%. For the Japanese iron and steel industry, it is necessary to (3) On the other hand, the trends in crude steel production achieve further growth while strengthening international in China and India showed distinctive features. In competitiveness and continuing to overcome global warm- 2009, deterioration of the world economic situation ing and resource-related problems. caused an across-the-board decline affecting almost all The following reviews developments in iron and steel countries except China and India, where the effects of production and technology during 2010. the global financial crisis were not particularly appar- ent and crude steel production increased. These two 1.1. World Steel Industry countries also achieved single-digit growth from the World crude steel production for 2010, as announced by previous year in 2010, with the result that steady the World Steel Association (WSA) on January 21, 2011, growth could be observed. China’s crude steel produc- totaled 1.414 billion tons. A breakdown by country is shown tion in 2010 reached 627 million tons, accounting for in Table 1. Based on this information, the following features approximately 44% of total world crude steel produc- can be mentioned. tion. (1) Recent world crude steel production peaked at 1.346 Next, looking at crude steel production by the main iron billion tons in 2007, but then recorded minus growth and steel producing companies, according to a report by against the previous year in both 2008 and 2009 due Metal Bulletin, in calendar year 2009 (announced June to the effects of the global financial crisis in the second 2010), the top-ranking company was Arcerol Mittal, with half of 2008. These effects were overcome in 2010, production of 73.2 million tons, following by China’s Hebei and world crude steel production increased by 15% Iron and Steel Group, Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation, from the previous year, setting a new world record. and Wuhan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd., all of which have pro- (2) In 2009, crude steel production decreased due to the duction scales exceeding 30 million tons per annum. In global financial crisis, but virtually all main producer Japan, Nippon Steel Corporation ranked 6th in the world, nations achieved double-digit growth in 2010. The following Korea’s POSCO, and JFE Steel Corporation main nations of Japan, Korea, and the EU all achieved ranked 9th (Table 2). growth exceeding 20%, and in particular, crude steel In particular, in China, the scale of corporate groups production in the United States grew by an impressive expanded as a result of a reorganization in the iron and steel

Table 1. The Largest Steel Producing Countries (Source:Report of WSA).

(million metric tons)

Rank 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 %2010/2009 1 China 353.2 419.1 489.3 500.3 573.6 626.7 9.3 2 Japan 112.5 116.2 120.2 118.7 87.5 109.6 25.2 3 United States 94.9 98.6 98.1 91.4 58.2 80.6 38.5 4 Russia 66.1 70.8 72.4 68.5 60.0 67.0 11.7 5 India 45.8 49.5 53.5 57.8 62.8 66.8 6.4 6 South Korea 47.8 48.5 51.5 53.6 48.6 58.5 20.3 7 Germany 44.5 47.2 48.6 45.8 32.7 43.8 34.1 8 Ukraine 38.6 40.9 42.8 37.3 29.9 33.6 12.4 9 Brazil 31.6 30.9 33.8 33.7 26.5 32.8 23.8 10 Turkey 21.0 23.3 25.8 26.8 25.3 29.0 14.6 11 Itary 29.3 31.6 31.6 30.6 19.8 25.8 29.7 12 Taiwan, China 18.9 20.0 20.9 19.9 15.9 19.6 23.7 13 Mexico 16.2 16.4 17.6 17.2 14.0 17.0 22.1 14 Spain 17.8 18.4 19.0 18.6 14.4 16.3 13.6 15 France 19.5 19.9 19.2 17.9 12.8 15.4 20.1 16 Canada 15.3 15.5 15.6 14.8 9.3 13.0 39.9 17 Iran 9.4 9.8 10.1 10.0 10.9 12.0 10.0 18 United Kingdom 13.2 13.9 14.3 13.5 10.1 9.7 ▲3.7 19 South Africa 9.5 9.7 9.1 8.3 7.5 8.5 13.3 20 Belgium 10.4 11.6 10.7 10.7 5.6 8.1 43.5 Others 128.6 135.4 142.0 131.8 104.0 119.8 World 1144.1 1 247.2 1 346.1 1 327.2 1 229.4 1 413.6 15.0 (%)

Table 2. Top Steelmakers (Source: Report of: Metal Bulletin).

Country of original/ %2009/ Ranking Company 2008 2009 main domicile 2008 1 Arcelor Mittal Luxembourg 103.30 73.20 ▲29.1 2 Hebai Steel China 33.28 40.24 20.9 3 Baosteel China 35.44 38.87 9.7 4 Wuhan China 27.73 30.34 9.4 5 Posco South Korea 34.70 29.53 ▲14.9 6 Nippon Steel Japan 36.88 27.61 ▲25.1 7 Shangan Group China 23.30 26.39 13.3 Fig. 3. Grobal steel capacity utilisation ratio. Source: Report of WSA. 8 Shandong China 26.38 9 JFE Steel Japan 33.80 26.28 ▲22.2 10 Tata Steel India 24.39 21.90 ▲10.2 lization ratio decreased from more than 90% before the 11 Anshan Steel China 16.04 20.13 25.5 global financial crisis in the fall of 2008 to approximately 58% at the end of 2008, recovered a level of more than 70% 12 Shougang China 12.19 17.29 41.8 by the end of 2009, and then recovered a level exceeding 13 Severstal Russia 19.21 16.74 ▲12.9 80% in the first half of 2010 (Fig. 3). 14 Evraz Russia 16.30 15.28 ▲6.3 15 US Steel United States 23.22 15.23 ▲34.4 1.2. Japanese Steel Industry 16 Maanshan China 15.04 14.83 ▲1.4 By the first half of 2010, the Japanese economy had overcome the effects of the global financial crisis and substan- 17 Gerdau Brazil 19.60 13.50 ▲31.1 tially recovered with the support of various economic 18 Sail India 13.66 12.69 ▲7.1 measures. However, conditions were somewhat stagnant in 19 Nucor United States 18.20 12.68 ▲30.3 the second half of 2010 due to the rapid appreciation of the 20 Valin Group China 11.25 11.81 5.0 yen and other negative factors. The following presents an outline of conditions in the Japanese iron and steel industry 21 Riva Group Itary 18.03 11.32 ▲37.2 during the year. 22 Thyssen Krupp Germany 16.00 11.00 ▲31.3 23 Sunitomo Metal Japan 13.88 10.81 ▲22.1 1.2.1. Trends in Steel-consuming Industries Novollipetsk In the field of civil construction, the amount of orders 24 Russia 10.40 10.61 2.0 (NLMK) received for public works projects such as roads, sewerage, 25 Imidro Iran 9.54 10.52 10.3 and anti-erosion and flood control projects continued to show minus values from the previous year. However, the 26 China Steel Taiwan, China 12.76 10.11 ▲20.8 tone was one of recovery from the second half, as the value 27 Baotou China 9.83 10.07 2.4 of orders for private-sector civil projects turned positive in 28 Rizha Steel China 7.47 9.91 32.7 the real estate and transportation/telecommunications sec- Magnitogorsk tors. The number of new housing starts also turned positive 29 Russia 11.90 9.61 ▲19.2 (MMK) due to various policy measures, such as preferential loan 30 Taiyuan China 9.20 9.47 2.9 interest rate policies, the housing eco-point system, etc. By annual conversion from the results in the second half, hous- (Million Tons) (%) ing starts recovered to more than 800 000. In the automobile industry, domestic new car sales industry, and China now has 12 companies ranking in the showed an increasing tendency in the first half, buoyed by world’s top 30. China’s largest group, Hebei Iron and Steel, the eco-car subsidy system, etc., but this changed to a was established by the corporate reorganization involving decreasing tendency in early September due to the end of the Tangshan Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. (Tangsteel) and the subsidy system. Annual sales recovered to 9.63 million Handan Iron and Steel Group (Hansteel) in 2008 . The group units, supported by strong sales in the first half. is based in Hebei Province, China. As mentioned previously, Industrial machinery showed a recovering trend from the China is continuing to enjoy high economic growth, with start of the year, accompanying rising domestic and external double-digit GDP growth. As one remarkable example, demand. In particular, an increasing tendency continued in looking at automobile production (passenger vehicles, bus- boilers and engines, civil and building construction machin- es, and trucks), China was the largest manufacturer in the ery, and metal processing and machine tools, which are world in 2009, with 13.79 million units. This increased by enjoying strong external demand. 32% in 2010, reaching 18.26 million units, which is roughly In electric machinery, heavy electrical motors, consumer double the scale of Japan’s automobile industry. (Japan electronics with strong demand, such as flat-panel televi- Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.: Automobile sions, etc., electronic parts, etc. showed a recovering tone statistics monthly report; vol. 44 No. 10). through the year and are expected to exceed the level of the Based on these trends, the world crude steel capacity uti- previous year.

In shipbuilding, approvals for new construction were on reportedly concern regarding the possible effect of spot pur- the 1.70 million gross tons/month level at year end, and chases, etc. on prices. work on hand decreased from the level of approximately 64 million gross tons at the end of FY 2008 to approximately 1.2.4. Trends in Steel Imports and Exports 48 million gross tons. The level of activity in shipbuilding Japan’s actual steel exports in 2010 totaled 43.40 million remains flat, with a very slight increase in 2010. tons, which exceeded the previous record of 38.13 million tons in 2008 and was a new historic high. By type of steel, 1.2.2. Iron and Steel Production mild steel products accounted for 29.31 million tons, and According to an announcement by the Japan Iron and special steel products, 7.78 million tons. The increase in Steel Federation on January 20, 2011, Japan’s crude steel special steel was particularly remarkable. The largest export production in 2010 was 109.6 million tons, recovering the destination was Korea (10.96 million tons), followed by 100 million ton level for the first time in two years. This China (7.51 million tons), Thailand (4.84 million tons), and result was an increase of 22.07 million tons from the 87.53 Taiwan (3.96 million tons). million tons of the previous year, 2008. Although produc- On the other hand, actual imports totaled 7.21 million, the tion failed to reach the previous high level of 120.2 million largest sources being Korea, Taiwan, and China (source: tons recorded in 2007, this represented a very significant Published by Japan Iron and Steel Federation). recovery. However, looking at the trend by quarter, in com- In calendar year 2010, Japan’s crude steel production parison with the pace at the start of the year, there was some recovered to a level exceeding 90% of that before the global feeling of stagnation in the results in the second half, reflect- financial crisis, at the 110 million ton level, and signs of ing general economic conditions. By type of furnace, LD improvement in corporate profitability could be seen. converter steel accounted for 85.76 million tons and electric Although the same level of crude steel production is also fore- arc furnace steel, 23.85 million tons. In both cases, these seen in 2011, it is thought that strengthening international figures were increases of approximately 25% from the pre- competitiveness in global markets, while continuing to vious year. By type of steel, production of mild steel was respond to the effects of the current overvalued yen, rapidly- 84.92 million tons (increase of approximately 26% from rising resource prices, and global warming, will become previous year), and production of special steel was 24.68 even more important issue during the year. million tons (increase of approximately 53%). In particular, special steel showed a large increase from the previous year, 2. Technology and Equipment which was attributable to increases in virtually all types of steel (carbon steel for machine structural use, structural 2.1. Technical Environment of Japanese Steel Industry alloy steel, tool steel, high tensile steel, etc.). As a forecast Two years ago, in 2009, it was necessary to respond to the for FY 2011, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation sees crude change from greatly reduced production due to the global steel production maintains a level on the order of 110 mil- financial crisis to increased production. In 2010, the lion tons (Fig. 2). increase in crude steel production leveled off, and production trended at a level of roughly 100+ million tons. Tech- 1.2.3. Trends in Raw Materials for Iron and Steel nically, the key issues continue to be advanced products and In 2010, crude steel production reached a historic high technologies which respond to the needs of increasingly glo- level, driven by the growth in real demand accompanying balized customers, and technologies which respond to the the economic grow of China, India, and other parts of the declining quality and rapidly-rising price of raw material Asian region, as well as a recovery of economic conditions and fuel resources and energy and global warming prob- worldwide. This also resulted in tight supply conditions for lems. both iron ore and coal, which are the main raw materials for During 2010, in addition to the overseas expansion of iron and steel. Japanese steel companies to date, companies were also The prices of iron ore and coal, which had continued to actively engaged in new expansion related to automotive climb sharply every year since 2004, decreased temporarily steel sheet/coating technology, manufacturing technologies in FY 2009 as a result of the decline in crude steel produc- for various types of steel pipes, new iron source technolo- tion associated with the global financial crisis, but from the gies, etc. in the Asian countries (India, Thailand, Vietnam, beginning of 2010, prices again rose sharply, together with Malaysia, etc.) and in Central and South America (Mexico, increasing crude steel production. In the second half of the Brazil, etc.). year, prices for iron ore, including both lump ore and fine As large national projects in the field of iron and steel ore (price of Australian hematite to Japanese customers), technology, work continued in the COURSE 50 project reached the $150/ton level, far exceeding the level in 2008. (COURSE 50: CO2 Ultimate Reduction in Steelmaking Coking coal showed the same tendency, and the price of Process by Innovative Technology for Cool Earth 50), strongly caking coal (price of Australian coal to Japanese which aims at a radical reduction in CO2 emissions, “Devel- customers) rose dramatically, to the $220/ton level (source: opment of Innovative Steelmaking Process for Strengthening steel company websites, etc.). Resource Response Capabilities,” which targets high effi- During the second half of 2010, Australia experienced ciency and energy conservation in the ironmaking process, record flooding, which had an enormous impact, particular- and “Fundamental Studies on Steel Materials with Enhanced ly on coking coal, as this natural disaster caused reduced Strength and Properties,” which focuses on fundamental production and stopped mining operations. In spite of efforts research and development for achieving high performance by all steel companies to secure alternate sources, there was in iron and steel materials and steel structures. All of these

Table 3. Relining of blast furnace in Japan.

Date Blow-off blast furnaces Blow-in blast fgurnaces Remarks ·Relining: 1-Oct ’09 – 11-Feb ’10 JFE Steel Kurashiki No. 3 11-Feb — ·Enlargement of innner volume 5055 (m3) from 4 359 (m3) to 5 055 (m3) *Scheduled for the future JFE Steel Hukuyama No. 3 (relining will be finished in May 2011) projects are being carried out under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) (see section 3.3). Regarding government science and technology policies, study of Japan’s Fourth Science and Technology Plan, which begins in FY 2011 (from April 1, 2011) was under- way in the Council for Science and Technology Policy. In moves related to iron and steel technology, policies for important issues such as promotion of Green Innovation, as a countermeasure against global warming, and strengthening of international competitiveness, etc. were incorporated in the Fourth S&T Basic Plan as problem-solving type inno- Fig. 4. Change of ratio of continuous casting production. Source: vation. Ministry of economy, trade and industry, economic and The following presents an overview of the main technol- industrial policy bureau “Preliminary report on iron and ogy trends by field. steel, non-ferrous metal, and fabricated metals products industry”. 2.2. Iron-making Pig iron production in 2010 recovered from the broad an element technology developed as part of Japan’s SCOPE decrease which occurred from the end of 2008 into 2009, 21 project (Super Coke Oven for Productivity and Environ- rising to 82.28 million tons, or an increase of 22.9% in com- mental Enhancement toward the 21st Century). parison with the 66.94 million tons of 2009. (In 2008, pig iron production was 86.17 million tons.) Blast furnace pro- 2.3. Steelmaking ductivity also increased substantially, to 1.95 tons/m3-day, in Crude steel production was increased in 2010 as well as comparison with 1.73 tons/m3-day in 2009. pig iron production (Fig. 2). The ratio of continuous casting Trends in blast furnace relining, shutdown, banking, etc. steel in semi-final steel for rolling is shown in Fig. 4. The projects for individual blast furnaces are shown in Table 3. ratios of continuous casting steel increased smoothly every As of the end of 2010, 27 blast furnaces were in operation, year. And the ratio of mild steel reached 99.9%, one of spe- or an increase of 1 from the end of 2009. The number of cial steel reached 96.4% blast furnaces with inner volumes of more than 5 000 m3 Among developments in new equipment, Nippon Steel increased by 1, to 13. Corporation, Kimitsu Works installed vacuum degassing At JFE Steel Corporation, West Japan Works (Kurashiki equipment. In order to strengthen the company’s ability to District), No. 3BF was blown-in on February 11, 2010 fol- respond to demand for high grade steels such as heavy lowing a relining which began in October 2009. The inner plates for energy industry and automotive steel sheets, etc., volume was increased from 4 359 m3 to 5 055 m3, and the the company expanded its vacuum degassing equipment at blast furnace control room and control system were com- Kimitsu Works, as this is a secondary refining process for pletely renovated. In order to achieve longer life than in the steel. Full-scale operation began in April 2010, and equip- past, various furnace life extension measures were imple- ment capacity is now approximately 2 million tons/year. mented, such as adoption of a high quality refractory with JFE Steel, West Japan Works (Fukuyama District) erosion resistance, improvement of the furnace body cooling increased the capacity of No. 3 Steelmaking Shop, at a total equipment, etc. investment cost of \50 billion, by constructing No. 7 con- JFE Steel also decided to reline No. 3BF at West Japan tinuous casting machine (CCM) and slab finishing equip- Works (Fukuyama District), which had been idle since ment and increasing the capacity of No. 5 RH. The new No. February 2009. Completion of this project is scheduled for 7 CCM has the world’s largest class capacity (2.4 million May 2011. Expansion of the inner volume of the blast fur- tons/year) for a single strand caster and represents the accu- nace will give Fukuyama District a crude steel production mulation of operating technologies cultivated up to the pres- capacity of 13.0 million tons/year. This will increase the ent. No. 7 CCM has operated without breakout trouble since capacity of JFE, West Japan Works to 23.0 million tons and it was commissioned in April 2010. In the industry’s top establish a company-wide system with a total crude steel class vertical start-up, the plant set a new world’s record of production capacity of 33.0 million tons. 210 000 tons/month for crude steel production per strand in In coke oven projects, the expanded part of No. 6 coke October. JFE steel also introduced advanced technology for oven battery (B group) at JFE Steel, West Japan Works molten steel flow control in the mold in order to respond to (Kurashiki District) was put into operation on December 15. demand for high grade steel products such as automotive Full consideration was given to reducing environmental steel sheets in Japan and export markets. In parallel with the loads by adopting a low NOx combustion system, which is construction of the new CCM, JFE steel also expanded the

861 © 2011 ISIJ ISIJ International, Vol. 51 (2011), No. 6 capacity of its slab finishing equipment to 1 million tons/ temperature in comparison with the conventional technique. year and No. 5 vacuum degasser to 3.1 million tons/year. Sumitomo Metal Industries carried out a complete reno- JFE steel, East Japan Works (Keihin District) also increased vation of the accelerated cooling device for heavy plates its steelmaking capacity (construction of No. 2 RH, etc.). (name: DAC-n) at Kashima Steel Works. This made it pos- Specifically, in order to meet expanding demand for high sible to respond to mass-production of plates for linepipe grade steels, JFE steel increased the capacity of No. 2 vac- with super high strength in grades X100 and higher, and uum degasser to 950 000 tons/year and extended the total higher quality in heavy plate products. Construction of the length of No. 1 continuous casting machine at a total cost device was completed in August 2010, with use in full-scale of \18 billion. No. 1 CCM has vertical with bending-type commercial production scheduled for January 2011. soft reduction equipment for cast slab, giving the plant an At Nippon Steel, Oita Works, one roughing mill and No. additional high grade steel production capacity of approxi- 2 shear line were newly constructed in order to improve the mately 700 000 tons/year. Also during 2010, Sumitomo plant’s integrated production capacity and the high perfor- Metals (Kokura), Ltd. commissioned a dephosphorization mance steel production capacity of the plate production line. furnace, completing that company’s investment in a series of This greatly increased production capacity, and monthly innovative steelmaking technologies characterized by the production of 230 000 tons was achieved. keywords environment, quality, cost, and logistics. Among the features of the new de-P furnace, in addition to reducing 2.4.2. Shape, Bar and Wire Products the amount of slag discharged, this facility also enables high Steel Bar Equipment: At Godo Steel, Ltd., Funabashi efficiency dephosphorization treatment in a short time by Factory, (1) a billet transport device was newly constructed introducing a powder top blowing method developed by between the CCM and rough rolling mill, (2) a heat-insulation Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. cover was installed after the CCM shear, and (3) the motor As new technologies, at Sumitomo Metal Industries, capacity of one stand of the intermediate rolling mill was Kashima Steel Works and Sumitomo Metals (Wakayama), increased by 1.4 times in order to increase the direct rolling Ltd. a spike-shaped nozzle for top blowing in the RH degas- percentage. As a result of these improvements, the direct ser was developed and applied. The spike-shaped nozzle is rolling percentage was increased to more than 50% while a new type of nozzle for top blowing in the RH which was maintaining the same billet temperature at charging to the designed using numerical analysis. Among features, it is rough rolling mill as in the past. The company planned to possible to suppress spitting even under high oxygen flow reduce fuel unit consumption by 50% by raising the direct rates. This device enables higher speed secondary refining, rolling percentage to 80% at the beginning of 2011. making it possible to increase production capacity. At JFE Bars & Shapes Corporation, Sendai Works, the As topics, Sumitomo Metal Industries simultaneously scarfer was renovated to a hot scarfer to enable heavy scarf- realized high efficiency production of low-P steel and ing of the corner parts of billets, which are particularly sus- reduced environmental loads by developing a “new hot met- ceptible surface defects, thereby realizing high efficiency in al desphosphorization process SRP-Z (Simple Refining scarfing and improving the surface quality of billets. Process-Z), which melts calcined lime and accelerates the Steel Shape Equipment: At Topy Industries, Ltd., de-P reaction by blowing high melting point lump calcined Toyohashi Factory, an LNG satellite was constructed, mak- lime (calcium oxide: CaO) in powder form, which is used ing it possible to change the fuel used in heating furnaces as the hot metal dephosphorizing agent, on the high temper- from heavy oil to LNG. This resulted in the reduction of ature ignition point on the surface of the hot metal from the 135 000 tons/year of CO2 emissions. top blowing, together with oxygen gas. In addition, by recy- Wire Rod Equipment: At Nippon Steel, Kamaishi Works, cling the ladle slag with the dephosphorization agent, this an endless rolling method, in which billets are joined on the technology also remarkably improves the dephosphorization production line, was established by installing a flash butt ratio and realizes use of slag as a roadbed material. welder at the exit side of the heating furnace. This makes it In other steelmaking-related developments, Nippon Metal possible to supply coils with large unit weight and has also Industry Co., Ltd., Kinuura Works produced lower roadbed contributed to efficient production. Although the present uti- material by converting slag generated in the electric arc lization rate is 20%, the company plans to increase this to furnace to a recycled crushed stone product, and received 50%. certification under Aichi Prefecture’s “Ai-Cle” recycled Wire Rod Production Equipment: Sumitomo Metal materials system. From the viewpoint of conservation of (Kokura) developed a cold-rolling method in which wire resources by substitution for natural crushed stone, materials breakage in the manufacturing process is suppressed and registered as Ai-Cle materials are used on a priority basis in dimensions and shape are stabilized by optimizing the roll prefectural public works projects. profile of the 3-roll mill as a replacement for the die drawing and annealing process, which had been used in the manu- 2.4. Plates, Pipes, and Shape Products facture of high-carbon Cr steel wire. This technology makes 2.4.1. Heavy Plates it possible to produce this product only by rolling, thereby At JFE Steel, East Japan Works (Keihin District) Plate reducing costs and shortening lead time. Mill, a cooling system utilizing advanced engineering technologies was installed immediately after the finish rolling 2.5. Measurement, Systems, and Analysis mill, realizing the world’s first rolling under water cooling. Sumitomo Metal Industries introduced and improved the This technology (name: Super CR) dramatically improved weight hoisting car and guide rails of its drop-weight test rolling efficiency and accuracy in prediction of the rolling system for evaluation of automobile crashworthiness. This

© 2011 ISIJ 862 ISIJ International, Vol. 51 (2011), No. 6 improves the accuracy of the test by applying load to the test ble effort to achieve targets, including use of the Kyoto specimen both in the straight direction and at a set angle. Mechanism, etc., even under conditions in which JFE Steel developed the world’s first inspection device crude steel production exceeds 100 million tons. which enables inspection of the buckling deformation limit (3) The above-mentioned target will be achieved as an and bending failure limit of high strength steel pipes with an average value for the 5-year period from 2008 to 2012. outer diameter of 48 inches (1 219 mm) by applying bending 2) Contribution to energy saving in society deformation to pipes under a condition of internal pressure. (1) Preconditioned on the establishment of a collection system, use of 1 million tons of waste plastics, etc. 2.6. Environment and Energy (2) Contribution to energy saving in society by products 2.6.1. Government Efforts and byproducts The 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties of the (3) Contribution to energy saving by international techni- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change cal cooperation (COP 16) and the 6th Conference of the Parties serving as a (4) Use of unused energy in neighboring areas meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6) was (5) Strengthening of efforts in consumer, commercial, and held in Cancun, Mexico from November 29 to December transportation sectors 10, 2010. The results of COP 16/CMP 6 may be summa- 3) Efforts to develop innovative technologies (COURSE rized as follows. 50) (1) At COP 16, a comprehensive, balanced decision which (1) Technology for separation and collection of CO2 from can form the foundation for an international legal blast furnace gas framework post-2013 was adopted, based on the (2) Technology for reduction of iron ore by hydrogen-rich Copenhagen Accord. As part of this, the emission reformed coke oven gas reduction targets, etc. pledged by the developed As its “Thinking on Measures Against Global Warming nations and developing nations under the Accord will by the Steel Industry in Japan,” in November 2009, the be compiled in a United Nations document, and COP Japan Iron and Steel Federation stated as follows: will bear in mind these targets, etc. This agreement “The Japanese steel industry will endeavor to further advanced negotiations toward the construction of a fair improve its energy efficiency, which is currently on the and effective international framework with the partic- world’s highest level. With Japan continuing to serve as a ipation of all major emitting nations, which is Japan’s base for production and development, the industry will pres- aim. ent to the world eco-processes, eco-products, and eco- (2) At CMP 6, as in COP, the parties will bear in mind a solutions, while strengthening industrial cooperation with document summarizing the emission reduction targets manufacturing industries, and thereby will contribute to the of the advanced nations, while clearly stating in a foot- growth of the Japanese economy and creation of employ- note an intention not to harm the interests of any ment, while also grappling with measures for controlling nations with regard to the Second Commitment Period global warming.” under the Kyoto Protocol. As part of this commitment, as a target for 2020, the industry estimates a CO2 emission reduction effect of 30 2.6.2. Efforts of Japanese Steel Industry million tons by eco-products. The estimated contribution of According to the statistics of the Japan Iron and Steel eco-products in FY 2009 was 18.81 million tons-CO2. Federation (source: December 2010, “Measures Against Similarly, as a target for 2020, the estimated CO2 emis- Global Warming by the Steel Industry in Japan”; total of sion reduction effect of eco-solutions is 70 million tons, and actual values of companies participating in the Voluntary the contribution in FY 2009 was 33 million tons. Action Plan), Japan’s crude steel production in FY 2009 was 93.72 million tons, which was a decrease of 10.5% from FY 2.6.3. Efforts by Individual Steel Companies 1990. As a result of positive implementation of energy sav- In October 2010, Nippon Steel, Bar & Wire Rod Division, ing measures, energy consumption in FY 2009 was 2018 PJ, Kamaishi Works began a multifuel combustion test using or a decrease of 17.2% from FY 1990. Energy-originated coal and biomass made from wood remaining in a forest at CO2 emissions totaled 165.6 million t-CO2, or a decrease of an existing coal-fired thermal power plant (generating 17.5% from FY 1990. capacity: 149 000 kW). In the future, the coal ratio in mul- In December 2010, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation tifuel combustion will be increased in steps while carefully clarified the following content of efforts as a “Voluntary monitoring the condition of operation. This demonstration Environmental Action Programme for the Iron and Steel test will continue until March 2011. In the future, the plant Industry.” is expected to use 5 000 tons/year of biomass resources 1) Efforts for energy saving in iron and steel production obtained from wood remaining in forests with a coal multi- processes fuel combustion ratio of 2%, resulting in a CO2 reduction of (1) Preconditioned on crude steel production of 100 mil- approximately 7 000 tons/year. lion tons, the Japanese steel industry will reduce its FY Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel., Ltd. are promoting recy- 2010 energy consumption in iron and steel production cling and zero emissions of steel manufacturing dust across processes by 10% against FY 1990 as the baseline year the entire western Japan region. As part these efforts, the (setting the reduction in CO2 emissions corresponding two companies constructed a new rotary hearth type reduc- to a 10% reduction in energy consumption at 9%). tion furnace (RHF) and hot briquette machine on the (2) However, the industry will make the maximum possi- grounds of Nippon Steel, Hirohata Works as part of “Promo-

863 © 2011 ISIJ ISIJ International, Vol. 51 (2011), No. 6 tion of Joint Projects for Recycling of Steel Manufacturing onstration tests aimed at marine use of slag. Companies Dust Byproducts and Production and Use of Reduced Iron.” manufacturing products using blast furnace slag and steel- The RHF will have a raw material treatment capacity of making slag include Nippon Steel (blocks for restoration of approximately 220 000 tons/year and is scheduled to start algae grounds), JFE Steel (blocks for restoration of coral), operation in October 2011. and Sumitomo Metals Industries and Kobe Steel (artificial JFE Steel Corporation began a full-scale demonstration reefs for fish). These companies are currently developing test of coral reef restoration using its “Marine BlockTM” demonstration tests. product in Indonesia in August 2010. “Marine BlockTM” is Dust: Steel Plantech Corporation put smelting reduction a block for use in construction of underwater forests and process which realizes recovery and detoxification of Zn coral reefs. As it is produced by injection/fixing of CO2 in and Fe from dust generated by the electric arc furnace to steelmaking slag, which is produced as a byproduct of the practical use, and started operation of the No. 1 unit in steelmaking process, its main component is the same as that Taiwan. of coral and shells, and it has a seaweed/coral adhesion and growth effect. 2.7.2. Large-scale Hydraulic Free Forging Press All companies announced new products which contribute In 2010, construction of hydraulic presses was completed to environmental improvement. Details may be found in the at Japan Steel Works, Ltd (14 000-ton capacity), Kobe Steel New Products section. (10 000-ton capacity), and Japan Casting & Forging Corporation in order to expand those companies’ large-scale 2.7. Others forged steel product businesses in the nuclear power and oil 2.7.1. Slag and Dust refining industries, foreseeing growth in world energy Slag: In 2010, all integrated steel makers expanded dem- demand, and in ship-related applications. In combination

Table 4. Contents of technology export and technology import. (Term: January 1, 2010–December 31, 2010).

Trading area Central Asia North America south Europe Oceanic Africa Total Technical field America

A. Raw materials 1. Pretreatment (All blanks) & Ironmaking 2. Blast furnace

Technical B. Steelmaking 1. Hot metal treatment exports 2. LD converter 3. Electric furnace (All blanks) 4. Continuous casting Ingotmaking 5. Others C. Shaping process 1. Bar and wire rod 5 4 3 – 1 2 15 2. Pipe (Following blanks) 3. Plate 4. Sheet 5. Surface treatment 6. Heat treatment

7. Shaping

8. Welding D. Other Operation Know-how (All blanks) (incl. Research related)

E. Iron & Steel 1. Feasibility study works in general 2. General operation (All blanks) 3. Others 5 4 3 – 1215 Total (7) (3) (2) (2) (3) (17) Technical C. Shaping process 1. Bar and wire rod (All blanks) imports Total 0 (1) Note Coverage: 79 sustaining member companies of ISIJ Numbers in parentheses show the data from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009

© 2011 ISIJ 864 ISIJ International, Vol. 51 (2011), No. 6 with these efforts, Japan Steel Works and Japan Casting & 3.2. Research Expenditures and Number of Researchers Forging also began development toward practical applica- Figures 6 to 8 show the transitions in the following three tion of 650 ton steel ingots, which will be the largest in the items based on the data in Companies, Etc. in Table 1 of world. “Statistical Survey of Researches in Japan” published by the In other developments, introduction of hydraulic presses Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Commu- was also decided by Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd. (5 000- nications. ton capacity) and Pacific Steel Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (8 000-ton capacity).

2.7.3. Other Items Aichi Steel Corporation completed construction of a mass-production plant for magnetic powder for use in neo- dymium anisotropic bonding magnets, which are expected to enjoy rapid growth. A continuous process with automated production was made possible by the development of a fluid carrier technology which utilizes the properties of the powder. This process also enables production in a perfect non-oxidizing atmosphere. The company is targeting a production capacity of 100 tons/month in FY 2012.

3. Technology Trade and Development Fig. 6. Trend of the ratio of sales to research expenditure. (Source: 3.1. Technology Trade “Report on the 2010 survey of the research and develop- As a breakdown of technology trade for the 1-year period ment”, by the statistic bureau, ministry of internal affairs and communications). of 2010, the results of a survey of the Sustaining Members of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan (79 companies) are shown in Table 4. Technology exports declined to 15 items from 17 in 2009. There were no imports during 2010 (1 item in 2009). Among export regions, Asia accounted for 33% of the total, followed by North America and Central and South America. By field, 100% of technology exports were pipe- related technologies. Figure 5 shows the balance of technology trade in the steel industry up to FY 2009. The amount of compensation received for technology exports increased by 3% from the previous year, while payments for technology imports decreased greatly (–59%).

Fig. 7. Trend of the number of researchers per 10 000 employees. (Source: “Report on the 2010 survey of the research and development”, by the statistic bureau, ministry of internal affairs and communications).

Fig. 5. Balance of technology trade of steel. Source: “Report on the Fig. 8. Trend of the expenditure of R&D per regular researcher. survey of the research and development”, statistic bureau, (Source: “Report on the 2010 survey of the research and ministry of public management, home affairs, post and tele- development”, by the statistic bureau, ministry of internal communications. affairs and communications).

3.2.1. Ratio of Research Expenditures to Sales emissions from the blast furnace and development of tech- The ratio of expenditures increased from the previous nology for separation of CO2 from blast furnace gas; budget year in both all industries and the steel industry. Although for FY 2010: \1.86 billion), iv) “R&D project on fundamen- both experienced decreases in sales and research expendi- tal technology for steel materials with enhanced strength tures, the decrease in research expenditures was not partic- and functionality” (FY 2007–2011, development of innova- ularly large in comparison with the decline in sales. tive welding joining technology for high grade steel materi- In 2010, the decline in sales in the steel industry was als and fundamental development of forging technology large, and reflecting this, research expenditures relative to using advanced control; budget for FY 2010: \350 million), sales increased to 1.39 (increase of +0.42 from 2009). v) “Technology development of advanced ultra super critical steam condition (A-USC)” (FY 2008–2016: budget for 3.2.2. Number of Regular Researchers per 10 000 Employees 2010: \740 million), etc. Due to a large decrease in regular employees in the steel Table 5 shows the results of a survey of the main industry, the number of researchers per 10 000 employees Sustaining Members of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan increased from 345 in 2009 to 396 in 2010. On the other concerning iron and steel-related research and technical hand, an increasing tendency also continued in all indus- development topics being carried out with public funds. tries. The number of full-time researchers in all industries Many of these topics are in the fields of processes, the envi- was substantially the same as in the previous fiscal year, at ronment and energy, and materials development. approximately 490 000. 4. Development of Human Resources in Technical 3.2.3. Research Expenditures per Regular Researcher Fields Research expenditures decreased greatly in both all industries and the steel industry due to the effects of the eco- The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan conducts various nomic environment in 2009, while the decrease in the num- types of training projects (Iron and Steel Engineering ber of regular researchers was small. As a result, research Seminars, Iron and Steel Engineering Seminar special expenditures per regular researcher decreased greatly in courses, Advanced Iron and Steel Seminar, Student Iron and both cases. Steel Seminars) for cross-industry core human resources development in technical fields. In 2010, plans were drawn 3.3. Trends in Research and Development Utilizing up for the following new projects, which will begin in FY Public Funds 2011. Among iron and steel-related technical development proj- One is a successor project to the “Industry-Academia ects, topics completed in FY 2010 included i) “Research on Cooperative Human Resources Development Partnership” corrosion test devices” and ii) “Development of innovative which was carried out as a policy of the Ministry of titanium production process.” Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) for the purpose of The main projects started in FY 2010 were i) Research maintaining and improving Japan’s industrial competitive- and development for expanded use of hard-to-use steel ness by closing the gap in human resources development scrap” (FY 2010–2012), ii) “Research and development between universities and industry and promoting coopera- related to development and international standardization of tion between the two sides. In this project, trials were made metal materials for use in hydrogen production, transporta- in a project for strengthening basic education, objective- tion, and storage systems, etc., development of evaluation oriented internship project, and development management test method contributing to review of regulations, and col- project. However, in the schedule from FY 2011, the main lection of material data” (FY 2010–2012), iii) “Construction focus will be implementation of the project for strengthen- of basic theory of mathematical modeling for complex sys- ing basic education by efforts in the educational projects of tems and its application to interdisciplinary science and the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan. technology” (FY 2010–2012), iv) “Device for analysis of For undergraduates in the early years of studies, a series history of single microparticles by focused-ion-beam/laser- of university special lectures presented in turn by members ionization” (FY 2010–2012), and v) “Development of large of the top management of steel companies is scheduled as a area thin films of amorphous and nanostructured metals by new program. The aim of this program is to stimulate inter- ultra-quenching transition-controlled spraying technology” est in industry by communicating the attractions of the iron (2010–2011), etc. and steel industry, which is a manufacturing industry. The main continuing projects were i) “Development of innovative iron making process technology for reinforce- 5. Technology Creation Activities in the Iron and Steel ment of resource handling capabilities” (FY 2009–2011, Institute of Japan production of inexpensive next-generation coke and development of blast furnace operation process using the devel- 5.1. Technical Committees oped coke; budget for FY 2010: \420 million), ii) In the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan, research on iron “Advanced promotion for strategic use of nuclear technolo- and steel production technology and communication of gy” (FY 2009–2010, support for research and development issues for technical development are conducted primarily in of main nuclear power equipment and materials; budget for the Technical Society. The type and content of these activi- FY 2010, \1.48 billion), iii) “Technology development of ties are shown in Table 6. environmental harmonic iron making process” (FY 2008– The Technical Committees which promote activities par- 2012, development of technology for reduction of CO2 ticular to the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan hold Committee

Table 5. Examples of public funded research projects for steel industry in Japan.

Source of funds and Beginning Ending Category Subjects commission fiscal year fiscal year

Research & development for the increased usage of the hard-to-use NEDO 2010 2012 ferrous scrap with the inferior properties for the steel making* METI Project for the promotion of industries for the low carbon society* 2010 2010 (Agency for Natural Resources and Energy ) FY2009 “Research for imrovement of production efficiency”: JOGMEC 2009 2010 Investigation of corrosion testing devices* Process/ Facility Advanced promotion for stratgic use of nuclear technology METI 2009 2011 Development of innovative melting processes for titanium NEDO 2009 2010 The technological development of the innovative iron making NEDO 2009 2011 process for reinforcement of the resource flexibility Demonstration model project of CO adsorption by subarctic METI 2 2009 2010 coastal algae using agricultual and industrial circulating resources (Hokkaido economic industrial bureau) Development of technologies for hydrogen production, NEDO 2010 2012 delivery and storage system Single particle history analyzer by using focused ion beam and JST 2010 2012 Elemental laser ionization method technology Development of large area thin film of amorphous/nanocrystalline NEDO 2010 2011 metal by ultra-quenching transition-controlled spraying technology Future power electronics technology project directed NEDO 2009 2012 New material high power semiconductor project for realizing METI 2010 2014 low-carbon society Technology development of advanced ultra super critical steam METI 2008 2016 Product condition (A-USC) (Agency for Natural Resources and Energy) MLIT Development of FCA steel usage to railway bogie frame* (Japan railway construction, transport and 2009 2012 technology agency) Mathematical theory for modeling complex systems and its JSPS 2010 2014 transdisciplinary application in science and technology Others Joint basic stady with coal-producting countries : International NEDO 2010 2010 coal utilization projects (Indonesia) *: The subjects attaching asterisks (*) were translated by the ISIJ secretariat. METI : Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry NEDO : New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization JOGMEC: Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation MLIT : Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism JST : Japan Science and Technology Agency JSPS : Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Table 6. Technology creation activities of technical committee, Interdisciplinary technical committee, and research group.

Technology creation activities Content of activities Technical Committees hold technical exchanges on iron and steel production, extract the technical issues in each field, and carry out related research with the aim of improving the level of production technology. Nineteen Technical Committees* are active, covering the entire field of iron and steel production. Technical Committee In addition to steel company engineers and researchers, university researchers also participate in each Committee. Committee Meetings are held 1–2 times each year, and Technical Subcommittees which discuss technical issues on a priority basis are established in the subordinate organization and carry out activities for technology creation. Interdisciplinary Technical Committees hold technical discussions and carry out surveys and other research activities to set directions for technology and solve problems in cross-field technical issues spanning various fields of iron Interdisciplinary and steel production processes or cross-industry technical issues. At present, 2 Technical Committee Interdisciplinary Technical Committees are active. Beginning in the coming fiscal year, the Japan Pressure Vessel Research Council is scheduled to become an Interdisciplinary Technical Committee. In Research Groups, research on important themes is carried out jointly by industry and universities based on the needs of steel companies and seeds Research Group from universities and other research organizations. As of the end of February 2011, 23 Research Groups were active.

Table 7. Research groups in fiscal 2010.

No. Type Research Group Division/Committee Group Leader Reserch Period Control of Reduction Equilibrium in BF through Vicinity High-Temperature Masakata Shimizu, 1A FY 2007–2010 Arrangement of Iron Ore and Carbon Process Kyushu Univ. Environmental, Atsushi Inaba, 2 A Material Vision 2100 Energy and FY 2007–2010 Kogakuin Univ. Social Engineering Microstructure and Kenji Higashida, 3 A Relation between Work-Hardening Behaviour and Microstructure Properties of FY 2007–2010 Kyushu Univ. Materials Instrumentation, Hisashi Tamaki, 4 C Agent-based Emergent Synthesis of “Field Force” in Steel Plant Control and System FY 2007–2010 Kobe Univ. Engineering Microstructure and Yoshihiro Sato, 5 C Interaciton of Biofilm with Steelmaterials Properties of FY 2007–2010 Osaka City Univ. Materials Process Simulation for Dephosphorization of Pig Iron Kimihisa Ito, 6B Steelmaking FY 2008–2010 by Multi-Phases Waseda Univ. Shinsuke Sakai, 7 B Research Group of Plant Management By Risk Assessment Plant Engineering FY 2008–2010 The Univ. of Tokyo High-Temperature Shin-ya Kitamura, 8 A Control of Non-Metallic Inclusion Properties in Solid Steel FY 2008–2011 Process Tohoku Univ. Processing for Yutaka Mihara, 9 A Standardization of Steel Tube Formability Test FY 2008–2011 Quality Products Kagawa Univ. Microstructure and Minoru Doi, Aichi 10 A Physical Metallurgy of High Temperature Materials Properties of Institute of FY 2008–2011 Materials Technology Environmental, Fumitaka Tsukihashi, 11 C Green Energy Steelmaking Energy and FY 2008–2011 The Univ. of Tokyo Social Engineering Microstructure and Kenichi Takai, 12 A Fundamental Construction for Hydrogen Embrittlement Properties of FY 2009–2012 Sophia Univ. Materials Hisao Esaka, High-Temperature 13 A Control of Micro- and Macro- Segregation National Defense FY 2009–2012 Process Academy of Japan High-Temperature Eiki Kasai, 14 A Technological Principle for Low-Carbon Sintering FY 2009–2012 Process Tohoku Univ. Tatsuhiko Tanaka, Standardization of Analytical Methods for Characterization of Analysis Technology 15 B Tokyo Univ. of FY 2009–2012 Free-CaO in Steel Slag Committee Science Instrumentation, High Precision Process Control via Large Scale Database and Yasumasa Fujisaki, 16 C Control and System FY 2009–2012 Simulation Models Osaka Univ. Engineering Process Evaluation Masato Ohnuma, Application of Advanced Neutron Source for Research of Elemental 17 C and Material National Institute for FY 2009–2012 Operation in Steel Characterization Materials Science Microstructure and Effect of Si Addition to Steel Substrate on Coating Properties of Shu Yamaguchi, 18 A Properties of FY 2010–2012 Galvannealed Steel Sheets The Univ. of Tokyo Materials Microstructure and Toshiyuki Koyama, 19 A Modeling for Predicting Microstructure and Mechanical Properties II Properties of Nagoya Institute of FY 2010–2012 Materials Technology Cokemaking Technology for Low-quality Coals and Unused Carbon High-Temperature Hideyuki Aoki, 20 A FY 2010–2012 Resources Process Tohoku Univ. Development of Multiscale and Multiphase Analysis in High-Temperature Takehiko Kumagai, 21 A FY 2010–2012 Refining Process Process Hokkaido Univ. Process Evaluation Ryo Inoue, 22 A Diversified Estimation of Nonmetallic Inclusion Particles in Steel and Material FY 2010–2012 Tohoku Univ. Characterization Rolling Theory Hidetoshi Ohkubo, 23 B Development of Heat Transfer Model of Run-out Table in Hot Strip Mill FY 2010–2012 Committee Tamagawa Univ. (Note) Knowledge-intensive type (type A), technology development type (type B), search for new fields related to iron and steel (type C)

Table 8. New Research groups adopted in fiscal 2010.

No. Type Research Group Division/Committee Group Leader Reserch Period Microstructure and Research on the relation between microstructure and ductile Setsuo Takaki, 1I Properties of FY 2011–2013 fracture in steel Kyushu Univ. Materials High-Temperature Shigeru Ueda, 2 I Optimization of Transport Phenomena for Low Carbon Blast Furnace FY 2011–2013 Process Tohoku Univ. Environmental, Yukitaka Kato, 3 I Carbon Recycling Iron Making System Energy and Social Tokyo Institute of FY 2011–2013 Engineering Tech. Environmental, Kazuyo Matsubae, 4 I Automobile Recycling from Material Industry’s perspective Energy and Social FY 2011–2013 Tohoku Univ. Engineering Development of simulation tool for steel making process using a Steelmaking Toshio Suzuki, 5II FY 2011 moving particle method Committee The Univ. of Tokyo Development of visualizing programs for sophisticated techniques in Analysis Technology Nobuo Uehara, 6II FY 2011–2013 steel analysis Committee Utsunomiya Univ. (Note) Seeds type (typeI), Needs type (typeII)

Meetings periodically to study and discuss key issues at the saving, energy saving, CO2 reduction) in steels for welded present point in time as common and priority themes. In FY structures and steels for mechanical structures. 2010, Technical Committees held a total of 35 Committee The Interdisciplinary Technical Committee on “Desirable Meetings (17 Spring Meetings, 18 Fall Meetings), which steel materials for automobiles” began its Phase VI activi- was approximately the same as in FY 2009. A total of 2860 ties from FY 2010. In particular, the priority issues are persons participated (2667 in FY 2009). A total of 64 uni- improvement of the power train as a main technology for versity researchers also participated in Committee Meetings, CO2 reduction, technical development in connection with which was similar to the level in FY 2009 (61 persons). eco-cars (hybrids, electric vehicles, etc.), and identification Industry-academic collaboration with the Academic of needs for iron and steel materials related to evaluation by Divisions is now firmly established in the Technical Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Committees, which encourage exchanges such as participa- tion of university researchers in Committee Meetings and 5.3. Research Grants and Research Groups joint planning with Academic Divisions. In “Grants for Promotion of Iron and Steel Research,” 41 Technical Subcommittees study designated technical issues new projects were selected as grant recipients for FY 2011 as common and priority topics. In FY 2010, 16 Technical (including 20 proposed by young researchers). Combined Subcommittees were active. Six items were completed, with the 33 projects selected in FY 2010, this program will including “Construction of refractory destruction model” support a total of 74 projects in FY 2011. (Refractory Committee), and 10 new items were started, Among Research Groups, 23 were active in FY 2010, of exemplified by “Technology transmission of analytical which 6 were terminated in March 2011. In FY 2010, six techniques requiring expert skills” (Analysis Technology new activities were begun in each of the knowledge- Committee). intensive (A type), technology development-intensive (B Various plans aimed at activation of the Technical type), and search for new iron and steel-related fields (C Committees were also carried out on an ongoing basis, such type) study groups (Table 7). as lecture meetings for young engineers and plant tour/ It may be noted that this A, B, C type research system was lecture meetings with other industries. discontinued at the end of FY 2010, and a new system of Research Group I (seeds type) and Research Group II (needs 5.2. Interdisciplinary Technical Committees type) was introduced starting in FY 2011. Six study groups Interdisciplinary Technical Committees study cross-field were selected as new projects under this system (Table 8). and inter-industry technical issues in activities limited to a period of less than 3 years. Acknowledgement The Interdisciplinary Technical Committee studying The authors wish to express their deep appreciation to the “Technology for saving resources and energy in modern Japan Iron and Steel Federation and all those concerned in structural steel” began its activities in FY 2009. Continuing the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan for their generous coop- this work in the present fiscal year, it carried out survey eration in all stages of the preparation of this paper. research on environment-friendly technologies (resource