– Vol.37 No.5 – www.steeltimesint.com No.5 – Vol.37 July/August 2013 2013 July/August NEWS OXYGEN STEELMAKING STEEL PROCESSING CONFERENCE REPORTS REPORTS CONFERENCE STEEL PROCESSING STEELMAKING OXYGEN NEWS

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July/August 2013 Contents Vol.37/No.5

July/August 2013 – Vol.37 No.5 – www.steeltimesint.com Front cover image NEWS OXYGEN STEELMAKING STEEL PROCESSING CONFERENCE REPORTS courtesy of LAP

EDITORIAL Editor Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855154 [email protected]

Production Editor Annie Baker

SALES International Sales Manager Paul Rossage [email protected] Oxygen steelmaking – Page 19 Steel processing – Page 31 Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855116 Area Sales Manager Anne Considine [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855139 Sales Director Ken Clark [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855117 Marketing Executive Annie O’Brien [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855012 Advertisement Production Martin Lawrence [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email [email protected] Conference report – Page 32 Conference report – Page 37

Steel Times International is published eight times a year and is available on subscription. Annual subscription: UK £163.00 Other countries: £233.00

2 years subscription: UK £293.00 Other countries: £419.00 ) News Single copy (inc postage): £37.00 News – Eurofer tells EC to stop ETS interventionism 2 Email: [email protected] Statistics & Events – May crude driven by China 8 USA Update – Sparks of life improve utilisation 10 Published by: Latin America Update – What next for Mexico’s Deacero minimills 12 Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, China Update – Anti-dumping duty on Chinese stainless tube 14 Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, England. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000 Japan Update – Africa, opportunity and partnership for Japan 15 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034 India Update – Dismal manufacturing retards steel growth 16 www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International (USPS No: 020-958) is published Oxygen steelmaking monthly except Feb, May, July, Dec by Quartz Business Media Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Sixty years of oxygen steelmaking 19 Road, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville, PA. POSTMASTER send address changes to Steel Times International c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA Dry vacuum pump degassing 17318-0437. Latest developments in mechanical vacuum pumps for steel degassing 24

Printed in England by: Pensord, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood, Gwent NP12 2YA, UK Steel processing ©Quartz Business Media Ltd 2013 Fast tooling change for Chinese slitter 31 Conference reports AISTech 2013 – A report on the annual event 32 Eurocoke Summit 2013 37 Platts Steel Markets Europe 2013 40

History: One hundred years of stainless steel 44 ISSN 0143-7798

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Europe crisis affecting US GDP Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Eurofer tells EC to stop ETS Bernanke says that the growth of jobs in USA has been weak in part because it is impacted by the prob- interventionism lems experienced in Europe. Tying the need to reduce federal budget Eurofer criticises the approval of According to the decision of the allowing only one such adaptation deficits together with the drag on backloading (removal) of emission EU parliament, 900 million carbon of the ETS. the economy caused by the eco- allowances by the European emission allowances will be taken Eurofer believes that the meas- nomic problems of Europe, he esti- Parliament. out of the market with the aim of ure does not improve the function- mated that the two factors will “The decision will needlessly increasing prices for the certifi- ing of the ETS trading scheme. reduce economic growth in the US increase energy cost for the cates traded within the EU “It is a fact that backloading is by between 1-1.5% growth in GDP European steel industry and the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). not necessary for reaching the ETS in 2013. industry in general at a time of cri- This proposal from the European targets. Source AIIS www.aiis.org sis,” says Gordon Moffat, Director Commission had already been Today’s decision represents General of the European Steel rejected by the European unnecessary interference in a mar- EU Anti-dumping against Indian Association. “It is time to stop Parliament in April this year. ket-based system.It once more stainless wire piecemeal interventionism and Today, the Parliament voted again undermines confidence in the pol- The European Commission has think about a stable framework for on the proposal, limiting the icy framework, which is so urgent- imposed provisional anti-dumping growth in Europe. Globally compet- amount of certificates which may ly needed for investment.”, said and anti-subsidy duties of up to itive energy costs are part of this.” be withheld to 900 million and Gordon Moffat. 32.1% on stainless steel drawn wire from India. The anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints were filed by Eurofer in June 2012. Dumped US market revival may be short lived imports from India now represent over 19% of European Union con- While the US steel market in mid- The underlying economic data, from 7.5% in April to 7.6% in May sumption of stainless steel drawn June started to show some signs of AIIS report in their June an increase of 175 000 jobs lost, wire. At the same time they make life, the American Institute for Newsletter, do not provide reasons and, while the size of the labour up for more than 50% of total International Steel (AIIS) question for much optimism. market increased slightly, this was stainless wire imports into the EU. whether this is another minor blip The US Department of Labour mainly in the Service Sector. The Source: Eurofer www.eurofer.eu in the inventory restocking cycles released its monthly unemployment long-term unemployment data that have occurred since the so- data in early June, which showed a showed no change from April. AIIS leader retires October called ‘end of the Great Recession’. small increase in unemployment, Source AIIS www.aiis.org The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) has announced that long standing President, David Phelps, will retire on the 1st October. Phelps has led Karnataka state reopens mining the Institute for the past 17 years. The Supreme Court of the state of years for the mines to become fully due to issues such as small lease- Karnataka, India, has ruled that operational, and that when they hold or resettlement and rehabili- India increases use of scrap mining at category A and B desig- are annual production for the state tation issues. The Metal Recycling Association of nated mines can resume after will be around 25Mt. Karnataka used to produce 40- India has estimated that the coun- investigations into illegal mining Around 115 mines have been 50Mt/y of ore, the second largest try’s imports of steel scrap for the operations meant that production granted approval to resume opera- production in the country. For the FY 2012/13 will be up 25% from in the state was put on hold. tions, although approximately 40 current financial year production is the previous year, to 7.5Mt. It is thought it will take over two of these will not be able to start not expected to exceed 15Mt. It is cheaper for southern and west- ern Indian steel plants to import scrap to feed their furnaces, than to transport sponge iron (DRI) from Siemens to supply two eastern regions of the country. India approves Mega steel plant planned for Arvedi ESP lines to China new projects Jharkhand JSW Steel is hoping to be the first A Chinese steel producer has alloyed (HSLA) grades and dual- The Indian state task force on steel company to set up a mega green- placed an order for two ESP phase steels will be produced. has approved eight new proposals field steel plant in Jharkhand, India. (Endless Strip Production) lines The Chinese company will worth a total of INR 100.53bn Ground level work of the steel plant which directly link a high speed receive technical support and assis- (US$1.7bn), including one steel is expected to start in 2013/14, as thin slab caster to the rolling mill tance for plant start-up and opera- plant and numerous pelletisation the company has acquired around without any need to crop the tions by personnel from the exist- projects. 1500 acres of land at Sonahatu in strand before entering the mill. ing ESP plant at Acciaieria Arvedi The proposal for the new steel the Ranchi district of the state. The The energy consumption of this SpA, Italy. The contactor to build plant is from Kalinga Steel Tech plant is expected to have an annual type of casting-rolling facility and the plant is Siemens Metals Pvt Ltd, and is for a 1.2Mt/y inte- production capacity of 10Mt. the related costs are reduced by up Technologies. grated steel plant in the to 45% compared to conventional These casting-rolling facilities Sundargarh district of India. casting and rolling processes. This will be part of a new steelmaking As for the remaining pelletisa- results in a major reduction in CO2 facility currently under construc- tion projects, the largest invest- emissions. tion in China. ment proposal is from Jindal Steel The new plants are designed for & Power Ltd, who are proposing a an annual production capacity of 2 5Mt/y iron ore pellet plant in the x 2.6Mt of high-quality, ultra-thin, Keonjhar district. All plans are For expansion of these stories and hot-rolled strip products with awaiting final approval from the other news visit. widths of up to 1600mm and State Authority, who assess proj- www.steeltimesint.com thicknesses down to 0.8mm. ects with investments worth up to Carbon steels, high-strength low INR10bn ($184.6M).

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JSW Steel reports growth AIIS see good and bad in US growth JSW Steel, in Karnataka state, SW India, has reported a 15% growth in In its June newsletter, the although one month’s sub 50 While there is good news for the annual crude steel production, pro- American Institute for result does not prove a trend the auto sector and oil and gas related ducing 8.51Mt in FY 2012/13 as International Steel (AIIS) report index has been weakening since (which while still consuming opposed to 7.4Mt in FY 2011/12. Its that GDP data for USA in Q1 February this year, month on healthy levels of steel products is output for flat rolled products was 2013 was revised down to 2.4% month. Other ISM sub-indices burdened by high inventories, up by 17% to 6.8Mt, and its long from 2.5% in the first estimate. also show weakening in the manu- especially as regards OCTG), the products output increased by 18% The government report indicated facturing sector, with order back- most important steel sector, non- to 1.8Mt. that GDP growth in the first quar- logs, production and new orders all residential construction, remains The company’s main facility has a ter was due to increased inventory below the breakeven mark of 50, mired in slow, or nearly no growth. potential annual capacity of 10Mt/y. accumulation, increased in exports signifying contraction. The most recent data for that sec- and a decrease in imports. The The steel intensive sectors con- tor is for April, running a paltry US$7bn expansion plan for RINL decrease in imports, based on his- tinue on the trends seen since 1.5% higher than the weak data for Indian state owned Rashtriya Ispat torical analysis, is not a positive 2009, with autos leading the way. April 2012. Moreover, employ- Nigam Ltd has embarked on an trend that one may think as In May the industry-wide seasonal- ment in the non-residential sector expansion plan worth INR 424bn approximately 55% of all imports ly adjusted annualised rate was for May actually declined even (US$7bn). Plans include extending are used for further processing in 15.3 million units compared with while the residential sector contin- its VSP plant capacity to 20Mt/y by US factories and the rest are fin- 14.9M in April, which was a small ues to expand and add jobs. AIIS 2025, which would result in it being ished products for consumer con- decline from March. The sales remain cautiously optimistic that, the largest steel plant in India. sumption. increase was led by pick-ups. The with history as a guide, the normal The ISM Purchasing Managers’ big three US auto companies expe- one-year delay between a healthy Midrex forecast 200Mt DRI by Index posted its first sub-50 value rienced an increase in their market residential and a healthy non-resi- 2025-30 in May since June 2009, at 49% share in May at the expense princi- dential construction sector will The world’s total DRI production in which means that the manufactur- pally of the Japanese and Korean assert itself sometime late in 2013. 2012 topped 74Mt, setting yet ing sector contracted. AIIS say this brands, most of which are also Source AIIS www.aiis.org another record for the industry. is a seriously worrying marker, and manufactured in the USA. There are a large number of shaft furnace plants currently under con- struction, representing nearly 20Mt/y of new capacity. In the longer term, DR growth is US steel imports inch up in May expected to accelerate between the years 2025 and 2030, when Midrex In data circulated by the American Region YTD 2013 YTD 2012 Percent forecast worldwide DRI production Institute for International Steel (k ston) (k ston) change to exceed 200Mt/y. (AIIS), US steel imports increased in May over April by 2.3% based on Japan 1104 1170 -5.6 Conference returns to Paris preliminary government reporting. EU 1946 2318 -16.1 The 1st European Steel Technology Total Steel imports in May 2013 Canada 2348 2545 -7.7 & Application Days (ESTAD) and the increased 2.3% from 2.801M stons Brazil 1780 1778 0.1 31st Journées Sidérurgiques compared to 2.738M stons in April South Korea 1555 1574 -1.2 Internationales (JSI) conference and 2013, which nonetheless repre- Table Mexico 1270 1073 18.4 expo will take place on 7-8 April sents an 8.6% decrease compared Cumulative US Russia 595 1214 -51.0 2014 in Paris. to May 2012. For the year-to-date imports to China 745 614 21.4 Organised by the French Steel period, imports declined by 10.6% May Australia 49 132 -62.9 Federation, the conference replaces compared to 2012. South Africa 33 39 -14.9 the former ‘ATS Steel Days’ which The data show that imported Indonesia 3 23 -86.5 was suspended in 2008 due to the semi finished products increased Turkey 640 816 -21.6 recession. This we relaunched in by 4.1% in May 2013 compared to Ukraine 58 131 -55.5 December 2012 as the 30th JSI con- May 2012, from 652k stons in 2012 India 330 396 -16.7 ference. to 679k stons in 2013, based on Total 13 235 14 812 -10.6 Further information available at preliminary reporting. This increase www.acier.org or in semifinished imports for use by five months of 2013 to 14.812M amounted to 745kt, but these were e-mail: [email protected] domestic mills was greater than the stons in the same period 2012. up 21.4% on the same period increase in total imports. Canada was the greatest source 2012. SAIL plans second plant in However, for the year-to-date of imports year to date at 2.34M Slow conditions in the US econ- West Bengal period, imported semifinished ston, followed by the EU (1.946M omy are continuing to depress The Steel Authority of India Ltd products decreased by -10.6% ston, Brazil (1.78M ston, S Korea imports, domestic shipments, and (SAIL) is planning a 3Mt/yplant in from 13.235M stons in the first (1.55M ston). Imports from China pricing. West Bengal, India, to go alongside their existing 2.5Mt/y project on the same site. Officials from SAIL say this is part of the company’s expan- European steel producers in contract sion strategy, which is aiming for a 45Mt/y output by 2020. European steel producers could be these contracts were imposed materials ‘adjustment’. This caught between the grip of shorter- upon them after 2008, as steel- adjustment, which accounts for term contracts with raw material makers tried to pass on more regu- iron ore, coking coal, scrap and suppliers, and end-users demand- lar fluctuations in the cost of iron ferroalloys, tends to move depend- ing contracts without index linked ore and coking coal. ing on the length of the steelmak- conditions, say Platts. Once raw materials were priced ers contract with its raw material Some customers, particularly on quarterly and monthly agree- suppliers. For example, if a mill has For expansion of these stories and those in the automotive sector, are ments, new steel contracts devel- a quarterly price for its iron ore other news visit. hoping to move away from shorter- oped in Europe stipulated that hot and coking coal, the surcharge www.steeltimesint.com term deals with index-linked raw rolled coil and other products contained in its steel contract will material components. Many feel would have a base price and a raw also move quarterly.

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Krakatau - Posco jv nears Saudi steel to completion of $3bn mill grow 11.7% A joint venture between will produce 1.3Mt/y of coke. December this year is the first Steel consumption in Saudi Arabia Indonesian steelmaker PT While Krakatau is Indonesia’s phase which will eventually see a is expected to grow at a CAGR Krakatau and South Korean steel- largest steel producer, up to now it 6Mt/y capacity plant on the site at 11.7% during 2013-2017, accord- maker Posco is at the final stage of has relied on the production of a cost of US$6bn. ing to a recent report by market construction of its US$3bn inte- direct reduced iron (DRI) to feed In phase 1, the mill will produce research consulting services com- grated steel plant in Cilegon, electric arc furnaces. In a depar- 3Mt/y of steel slabs for hot rolling pany, RNCOS. The report called Banten. A coke oven plant heating ture from this the new plant uses to mainly meet domestic demand, ‘Saudi Arabia Steel Industry up ceremony took place on 11 conventional blast furnace tech- thereby reducing imports. Forecast 2017’ adds that in 2012, June 2013. nology. Source: Daily ‘The Jakarta Post’, steel consumption in the Kingdom The US$357M coke oven plant The plant, due for completion in Jakarta; 11 June 2013 experienced double-digit growth. The report noted that the steel industry in Saudi Arabia is highly import-oriented as more than half Interpipe declares Iraq ambitions of the steel consumption is met through imports. Buoyed by construction and Interpipe, a leading steel pipe country manager with immediate growing investment in the real manufacturing company in effect based in Basra. Following estate sector, Saudi Arabia has Ukraine, has announced putting in several recent meetings in Iraq become one of the largest steel place a local support team to work with South Oil and a lengthy audit consumers in the GCC (Gulf in Basra following the approval of its steel mill in Ukraine, the Cooperation Council) region. from South Oil Company (SOC), approval allows Interpipe to par- The construction sector in the one of the major fundamental for- ticipate in local tenders. The meet- country is considered as the largest mations of Iraqi national oil com- ings in Iraq also saw a tour of the and the fastest growing market in pany (INOC), as a preferred sup- oil fields due to the increasing the Gulf region with huge growth plier for the country. need to provide a better service of potential. The announcement sees transporting and stocking pipes Source: Daily ‘Saudi Gazette’, Interpipe appoint a new Iraq from the ports. Riyadh; 23 June 2013 Vietnam firms struggle to cut inventory Vietnamese steel producers are Imports were higher than domestic the industry was a shortage of cap- on the rise. This should be a long- facing difficulties because of the steel production as was consump- ital. Steel businesses had to term solution for the industry, it quiet real estate market, tion despite this falling 11.6% depend on loans, imported mate- said. The sector should also invest decreased selling prices, imported compared with a year earlier. rials and old-fashion technologies, in increasing production to be less steel and shortage of capital. Several steel makers reported resulting in high production costs dependent on imports. The Ministry of Construction they had not been able to access and low competitiveness. The association chairman Pham reported last month’s (May 2013) loans at low interest rates. The association’s figures Chi Cuong added the businesses steel output was 270kt, up 13kt In addition, the steel industry showed that nearly 30% of steel should themselves find solutions over the previous month. As a was faced with a range of chal- makers had used backward tech- by proper and regular planning result, steel inventories grew from lenges from European Union nology, 40% used average technol- and setting up distribution net- 330kt to 350kt. countries which had applied anti- ogy and 30% used modern and works. He also suggested business- Statistics from the General dumping taxes on imports of cer- advanced technology. The associa- es promote relations with agents Department of Customs also tain Vietnamese steel grades. tion said the businesses should and update market information. showed that imported steel had The Vietnam Steel Association gradually introduce new technolo- Source: Daily ‘Vietnam News’, reached 800kt in Jan-May 2013.. said the most difficult factor for gy as the cost of energy had been Hanoi China embraces VietinBank to lend green technology $1.2bn for cold mill Conserving energy and protecting cerns concurrently. The Vietnam Joint Stock agreement on strategic co-opera- the environment were the topics of Continuous Mill Technology Commercial Bank for Industry and tion. discussion at a recent conference (CMT), for example, is extremely Trade (VietinBank) will lend VietinBank has also committed held in Beijing, China. energy-efficient. By linking the steel VND2.5tr (US$1.2bn) to the to providing funds for Hoa Sen The conclusion reached at the works directly to the rolling mill, the steelmaker Hoa Sen Group for the Group to supplement the compa- event hosted by SMS Group SMS group’s specialists have devel- construction of two cold rolling ny's working capital. They will (Germany) and an organisation oped a process which coordinates mills. enjoy preferential lending rates of comprising various Chinese min- continuous casting and rolling more Each mill will have a designed 8% for short-term loans and 11% istries, was that the metallurgical efficiently. capacity of 200kt/y. for long-term credits. industry is in a position to reconcile In cost terms, CMT saves around The loans will be disbursed in Source: Daily ‘Vietnam News’, environmental and financial con- €11/t, while also cutting CO2. late 2013 and early 2014 under an Hanoi; 21 June 2013

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Steel plant in Bhilwara, India JFE Steel to build galv line in Java JFE Steel, the Japanese steel pro- The line will have a capacity of capacity in line with the expected State owned Rashtriya Ispat ducer, says it will invest about 400kt/y of galvanized steel sheet, car sales of more than 1.1 million Nigam Ltd (RINL), India, has $300M to build a galvanising line and is expected to begin opera- units this year, almost unchanged been granted permission to set up in West Java to accommodate tions in March 2016. This will be from 2012. a steel plant in Banera, in the increasing demand for high-end JFE’s third CGL for automobiles JFE Steel is affiliated with JFE Bhilwara district of India, with an steel products for use in cars in the in Asia outside Japan, following Shoji, which imports and exports investment of INR 25bn local market. plants in China and Thailand. steel products and trades in the (US$4.2M). The company, a unit of JFE Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s raw materials for steel, non-ferrous The plant will have a capacity of Holdings, said it would build a largest economy and the region’s metals, chemicals, machinery and 2Mt/y, and should create 1500 continuous galvanizing line (CGL) second largest automobile produc- ships. The company has interna- direct and 1000 indirect jobs with- in an industrial estate in Bekasi er after Thailand. tional operations and networks in the state. about 30km east of Jakarta. The Local demand for high-end throughout Asia. There is also a proposal by location will be adjacent to several automotive steel sheet is expected Source: Daily ‘The Jakarta RINL for a further steel plant in automotive manufacturers. to grow as automakers expand Globe’, Jakarta; 17 June 2013 Jahazpur, also in the Bhilwara dis- trict, which if approved would have an annual 4.6Mt/y capacity. ZincOx expects plant problems SAIL spends to be solved by year end US$7.5bn ZincOx Resources plc at its Annual rently running at about 64% zinc. with ones made in a significantly General Meeting in June said that The design modifications required more resistant alloy. SAIL has been expanding capacity over the past few months, both the in the circuit that produces KRP’s The stoppages and reduced at all its major steel plants in India, recovery and reliability of the plant iron by-product, ZHBI, has only throughput caused by the prob- in places such as Rourkela, have improved significantly and the recently been completed and com- lems with the heat exchangers has Bokaro, Durgapur, Bhilai and feed rate is now being increased mercial test marketing is underway. severely reduced zinc concentrate IISCO, and has incurred costs of while the operating parameters are However, these improvements production which has been limited INR 445.36bn (US$7.5bn) over optimised so as to maintain a high have been masked by continuing to about 45% of target capacity the past seven years. This is all part recovery of zinc oxide. repairs required by the inner tubes over the past three months. To of a proposed INR 618.7bn The Korean Recycling Plant of the heat exchangers. These cover the cost of repairs, the heat (US$10bn) project which started (KRP), located in South Korea, repairs have been caused by failure exchanger by- pass and the fabrica- in 2006-07 with INR 1.01bn treats electric arc furnace dust in a of the welds and the resultant tion of new inner tubes, the (US$17M) investment. The aim is rotary hearth furnace to recover ingress of air has accelerated cor- Company is in the process of final- to raise its overall capacity to zinc oxide concentrate and iron. rosion. The air ingress limits ising a loan for up to US$7M, 20.23Mt/y. According to company While the zinc grade of KRP’s feed throughput and ultimately results which will be secured against the reports, it spent INR 89.93bn material has risen by about 10% in stoppages for repairs of up to Company’s land in Turkey, details (US$1.5bn) on capex over the last over the past year, the grade of the ten days at a time. of which will be announced in due fiscal year, the lowest amount since zinc oxide concentrate recovered These heat exchangers, fabricat- course”. 2009-10. continues to improve and is cur- ed in Germany, are to be replaced www.zincox.com

Emirates Steel Research to develop syngas from CO2 to expand BASF, the Linde Group and processes, this technology pro- reducing iron ore to DRI. ThyssenKrupp plan to develop an duces very little CO2. The German Federal Ministry product range environmentally friendly basis to The hydrogen is then reacted of Education and Research use carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted with large volumes of CO2, cap- (BMBF) is subsidising the project Emirates Steel’s $1.6bn Heavy from industry on an industrial tured from industrial emitters with a grant of €9.2M within its Sections Mill, which started pro- scale. such as steel and power genera- ‘Technologies for Sustainability duction in early 2012, is diversify- The companies are developing a tion, to produce syngas − a mix- and Climate Protection – ing its product range by developing two-stage process. In the first step, ture of carbon monoxide and Chemical Processes and Use of structural steel with enhanced a high-temperature process will hydrogen. CO2’ scheme. mechanical properties that are crack natural gas into its con- Syngas is a key raw material for The research programme start- often specified in offshore oil, gas stituent elements hydrogen and the chemical industry and is also ed on July 1, 2013, and is expect- and petrochemical projects. carbon. Compared to other suitable for producing fuels and ed to last three years. The 15-year old GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) steelmaker has the capacity to produce 1Mt of structural steel per year and has Siemens acquires Service Guide, Inc recently started to ramp up pro- duction. Siemens Industry, Inc today mills since 1964. by the Oakes Family Trust. The mill currently produces a announced it has completed the The agreement includes three of The acquired facilities provide wide range of products from medi- acquisition of Service Guide, Inc, the company’s four local operating the steel industry with repair and um light sections to heavy jumbo an Ohio-based company that has facilities in Warren and Cortland, refurbishing services, as well as the sections with sizes from approxi- provided repair and refurbishing Ohio. The fourth facility, Oakes manufacture and sale of spare mately 200 to 1000mm in depth. services for steel and aluminium Foundry, will continue to be owned parts and components.

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www.steeltimesint.com News and Statistics Events Diary

AUGUST May crude steel driven by China 25 - 28 MMM3013 – 15th IFAC Symposium World crude steel production for In the EU, Germany produced compared to May last year. San Diego, California, USA the 63 countries reporting to the 3.7Mt of crude steel, a decrease of Ukraine’s crude steel production e-mail: [email protected] World Steel Association (world- -1.5% compared to May 2012. for May 2013 was 2.8Mt, -6.5% www.flogen.org/MMM2013 steel) was 136Mt in May 2013, an Italy produced 2.3Mt, down - less than May 2012. increase of 2.6% compared to May 11.1% on May 2012. France made The USA output was 7.5Mt, SEPTEMBER 2012. 1.4Mt crude steel, -3.5% less than down -4.9% on May 2012. 2 – 4 8th International Stainless China’s crude steel production May 2012. Spain produced 1.4Mt, Brazil produced 3.0Mt of crude Steel Congress 2013 that month was 67.0Mt, up 7.3% an increase of 4.3% compared to steel production, up 5.5% com- Shanghai, China compared to May 2012. Elsewhere May 2012. UK produced 0.984Mt, pared to May 2012. e-mail [email protected] in Asia, Japan produced 9.6Mt of down -2.6% on a year earlier. The crude steel capacity utilisa- www.chinastainless.net.cn crude steel, an increase of 4.3% Turkey’s crude steel production tion ratio for the 63 countries in compared to May last year. South for May 2013 was 3.0Mt, a May 2013 remained nearly 4-6 11th China International Korea’s crude steel production was decrease of -2.0% compared to unchanged at 79.6% compared to Coking Technology and Coke 5.5Mt, down -7.1% on May 2012. May 2012. 80.0% in April 2013. Compared to Market Congress India made an estimated 6.730Mt Russia produced 6.1Mt of crude May 2012, it is -0.9% lower. Nanning, Guangxi, China up 1.5% on May 2013. steel, a slight increase of 0.2% e-mail [email protected]

To download a country by country output visit: 10 – 11 DRI & Minimills www.worldsteel.org/statistics/crude-steel-production.html conference New Orleans, LA USA e-mail [email protected] PUBLICATION Steel Soul: Sheffield www.amm.com/events/minimills 10-11 The 18th Galvanizing & Coil Coating Conference Forgemasters in pictures Munich, Germany Forgemasters operations from steel- An introduction to the project e-mail making in the electric arc furnace, can be seen at [email protected] teeming to forging ingots, forging, http://www.bymyi.com/SSP2.html www.metalbulletin.com/EventDetails machining, the pattern shop for and a sample of 10 pictures viewed /0/5725/18th-Galvanizing-Coil- steel castings and casting massive by clicking on ’10 Images’ at the Coating-Conference.html and complex components such as bottom of the page and click on A limited edition book containing nodes for offshore structures. each image to show the next. 11-13 China (Chongqing) 80 full page black & white images Some pictures are humorous, ‘Steel Soul’ by Andrew G Smith International Metallurgy taken within UK’s Sheffield such as a gas cylinder onto which a ISBN: 978-0-9575960-0-9 is avail- Industry Expo 2013 Forgemasters was released this ‘smiley’ face has been drawn. Others able from bookshops price £22 Chongqing, China month. show the immense scale of some of (UK), £27 (Europe) £33 (RoW) or e-mail: [email protected] Photographed by Andrew Smith, the largest forgings and castings order via PayPal pictures cover all aspects of made anywhere in the world. http://www.bymyi.com/SSPB.html 12 Steel Tech Technological Developments in Iron & Steel PUBLICATION Kolkata, India e-mail [email protected] Chinese coal & coke producers map Web www.steeltech-india.com A map of China’s Coal & Coke portation fees are indicated for for SteelHome members. 19 – 20 6th International con- producers is now available from each. Contact ference World Steel Semis SteelHome, the China based trad- The size of the map is 119cm x e-mail [email protected] Market 2013 ing & news website. It locates over 78cm and is available printed on Or visit the SteelHome web site: Istanbul, Turkey, 400 independent coke producers either paper or plastic. (English) www.b-forum.com/web/busf.nsf/ and metallurgical coal miners in The cost is US$500 for non- http://www.steelhome.cn/en met/semis/7798F2A360355684C225 China. Coke production & trans- member of SteelHome, or $300 Chinese) http://www.steelhome.cn 7B0F0051B080?open

22-24 Steel Orbis Fall 2013 European Steel in Figures 2012 Conference & 69th IREPAS meeting Compiled by Eurofer, ‘European EU amounted to 168Mt in 2012. massive inventory reductions in Istanbul, Turkey Steel in Figures’ has become a This is a reduction of 5% com- the steel distribution chain. www.steelorbis.com/current-events/ valuable reference for everyone pared to 2011 and reflects EU involved or interested in the steel mills adjusting production To download a copy visit 24-26 13th China International European steel industry. downwards in response to weaken- http://www.eurofer.be/index.php/e Steel & Raw Materials Conference Crude steel production in the ing real steel consumption and ng/News-Media/Publications Qingdao, Shangdong, China e-mail [email protected]

26-28 3rd MetEx India - World Steel in Figures 2013 International Exhibition on The World Steel Association contains comprehensive informa- consuming countries. Metal, Materials & Metallurgical (worldsteel) has published the tion on crude steel production, A PDF can be downloaded from Technology, Equipment 2013 edition of World Steel in apparent steel use, pig iron pro- the website http://www.world- Bangalore, India Figures. duction, steel trade, iron ore pro- steel.org/publications/bookshop?b www.metex-india.com World Steel in Figures provides duction and trade and scrap trade. ookID=704c467d-8c30-4980- the latest updates on the global The booklet lists major steel- 8720-04a743f91965 and printed www.steeltimesint.com/events picture of the steel industry with producing countries, top steel-pro- copies can be ordered from the For a full listing key facts and statistics. The book ducing companies and top steel- bookshop.

8 – July/August 2013 – Steel Times International www.steeltimesint.com USA_Layout 1 7/10/13 4:44 PM Page 1

USA Update

Sparks of life improve utilisation

As US crude steel production inched up one percent last week, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) confirmed that the industry’s capacity utilisation had recovered to above 78%. By Manik Mehta, New York*

ACCORDING to the AISI data, US steel mills’ fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The US steel imports which increased to 480kston into the production in the week ending June 15 was industry wants China to relax or remove restric- United States in the January-April 2013 period. 1.87 million short tons (Mston) of crude steel, tions on the import of foreign steel into China The sharp rise is remarkable because overall US compared with 1.851Mstons in the previous and also allow foreign ownership of steel mills steel imports for the same period fell 17% to week. Industry capacity utilisation was record- there. US steel circles say that ArcelorMittal has 10.6Mston. ed at 78.1%, one of the highest levels for the tried for years to find a way to make what ana- Chinese steel is used mainly in heavy projects current year. lysts say would be a ‘fully-fledged entry’ into such as bridges and buildings, segments which The highest capacity utilisation so far this China’s huge market by setting up an operation are considered to be the prime market for year was 79.5% during the week ending May there. Nucor Corp, America’s second largest steel 18th, this was a 4.7% improvement on the same One nagging fear plaguing the US steel producer. Not surprisingly, Dan DiMicco, week in 2012 when utilisation was just 74.8% industry is that of a surge in imports of Chinese Nucor’s chairman, has been fuming over rising US steel production fell about 6% in the first steel even as US steel production is staging a imports of Chinese steel. Nucor is also, appar- four months of this year, suggesting that the US slow but steady upward climb. Indeed, Chinese ently, unnerved by the prospect of other big- economic recovery was still weak and the glob- steel has been used in the San Francisco- ticket projects being executed with Chinese al steel industry continues to face difficulties. Oakland Bay Bridge, considered to be an icon steel as repairs are being carried out to other According to AISI, US steel mills shipped landmark by the domestic steel industry. bridges that face material deterioration and 31.5Mstons in the first four months of the year, However, the decision to use Chinese steel in other erosion problems. Indeed, US steelmak- compared to 33.7Mstons in the same period a the bridge is based on pure economic compul- ers fear that contracts for the infrastructure year earlier. sions: Chinese steel is cheaper than US made makeover in the country could quietly slip away Tom Gibson, the AISI president, said that it steel. This is, naturally, going to bring out the from their hands. was possible that the rising confidence in other ‘Buy-American’ proponents shouting that areas of the US economy would also bolster Chinese steel is unfairly subsidised and urging Over capacity steel demand in the second half of the year. He the US administration to restrict imports. US steelmakers also suffer from the problems felt that some of this optimism could spill over China, in reply, is claiming that it is a ‘more effi- of excess capacity and sluggish demand in both to steel demand but so far things were not very cient’ steel producer. the developed and emerging economies. buoyant in that sector. Besides its lower prices, Chinese steel has China’s overcapacity – China produces nearly Nevertheless, some steel experts see ‘bright also undergone a qualitative transformation. half of the world’s steel – is worrying for US spots’ in steel production, led by plants operat- Chinese suppliers have begun specialising in steelmakers who fear that with declining ed by US Steel Corp and ArcelorMittal in the steel for heavy construction projects. On the demand in that country, China’s excess produc- Midwest, and Nucor Corp in the South. The other hand, American contractors with expert- tion will, invariably, land in the US market. United States continues to be the world’s third ise in heavy projects such as bridges are becom- According to a representative from Severstal, biggest steel producer, behind only China and ing scarce and difficult to find. “These two rea- Russia’s largest steel producer which also owns Japan, and ahead of emerging economies such sons [lower prices and scarcity of US experts on two plants in the USA, speaking at the recent as India, Russia and Brazil. heavy projects] will make it difficult for the US Steel Success Strategies conference held in In the United States, two key steel players, to ward off Chinese competitors,” Mark New York in June, world steel production US Steel and ArcelorMittal, have been eyeing Robson, a US based analyst, told Steel Times increased by 185M metric tonnes a year in the the auto industry concentrated in the Detroit International. 2010-12 period, while demand had increased region which is seeing a boom of sorts and is The point is best illustrated with the repairs by only 121M metric tonnes. generating increased demand for steel. The to the towering Ve rrazano-Narrows suspension With some steel companies facing existential shale gas boom is another source of encourage- bridge, the longest in the country, for which the issues, some delegates at the conference were ment for steelmakers who are seeing an New York Metropolitan Transportation questioning the suitability of the conference increased demand for pipes for gas exploration, Authority awarded a $235.7M contract to Tutor title as ‘Steel Success Strategies’ and wondering if and lower energy costs. Pe rini Corp, a US based contractor, who in turn its 1980s title ‘Steel Survival Strategies’ should be American steel companies have discovered subcontracted the fabrication of steel decks for resurrected. another market – this time in China. China pro- the bridge to the China Ra ilway Shanhaiguan The steel industry welcomed the Senate’s duces little scrap metal because its’ consumers Bridge Group. confirmation of Michael Froman as the new US are still clinging to the first-generation of cars According to the MTA, 15kstons of steel Trade Representative, with Thomas J Gibson, and washing machines they purchased in the plate made by China’s Anshan Iron & Steel the AISI president and CEO, hoping that 1990s, and have not yet started to dispose of Group are being used to execute the contract. Froman’s confirmation would enable the these as scrap. Indeed, there are hardly any The MTA tried, unsuccessfully, to identify a administration to focus on the major trade-dis- Chinese mini mills that produce steel from competitive contractor who would use torting issues facing the US steel industry. “We 100% scrap, for the most part charging a blend American steel for the work. It located one con- have urged the US Trade Representative to of hot metal (40-60%) from the BF along with tractor called Structal-Bridges, but its offer was address currency manipulation by a number of scrap. This has created demand for imported twice that of Tutor Pe rini. MTA representatives foreign countries in the Trans-Pacific steel scrap, much of which comes from USA. privately acknowledge that, besides price, the Partnership (TPP) negotiations as well as the US steel companies also discern opportunity in Chinese also have expertise in making parts for role of state-owned enterprises, foreign govern- China where they hope to supply the advanced bridges. ment subsidies for manufacturing, and other technologies they have developing in hi-tech The bridge repair work is given as one of the unfair trade practices,” said Gibson who was, steels that can be used in the next generation of reasons for the 33% rise in Chinese steel evidently, referring mainly to China. ᔢ

*STI New York correspondent

10 – July/August 2013 – Steel Times International www.steeltimesint.com LA_Layout 1 7/11/13 8:28 AM Page 1

LA Update What next for Mexico’s Deacero minimills?

Deacero, the leading company in the Mexican steel wire market, started its third minimill in February last year. This article reviews the company’s characteristics and expansion plans. By Germano Mendes de Paula*

DEACERO was established in 1952 as a mod- high technological content, which will enable market). The company is understood to be the est business employing 12 people installing wire the steel to be rolled to thinner sections, but the largest scrap consumer in the country. fences. The following year, it began to manufac- product will have greater strength due to better ture some steel wire products, such as chain- thermal control on the mill. The fabrication of Product mix link fencing and graded mesh. The enterprise these products will serve the construction Deacero produced 2.97Mt of crude steel in became increasingly devote to wire products as industry, along with the metalworking industry 2012, up 4.8% compared to 2011. Its main it grew. and auto parts manufacturers. products categories in 2012 were rebars, wire In 1981, the company decided to start pro- It is understood that the new facility will be rod, wires and billet. The remaining products ducing its own steel, and for that purpose, it operating at commercial levels in the second were scrap, cables, and panels, amongst many launched its first minimill in Saltillo. This mill’s half of this year. others. current capacity is approximately 700kt/y. More The new minimill consists of one EAF of Regarding the wire market, sales are relative- importantly, in 1997, Deacero brought on 150t heat size giving a productivity of 250t/h; ly dispersed among construction (31%), agricul- stream its second minimill, in Celaya. Initially, one ladle furnace (150t); a six strand continu- ture (29%), industrial (25%), and domestic and this had a capacity of 600kt/y, but this was rap- ous billet caster (casting 130 x 130mm up to hardware products (15%). Deacero commer- idly increased to 1Mt/y. The meltshop’s capaci- 200 x 240mm); and a rolling mill that exclusive- cialises more than 3800 products, grouped into ty was again increased in 2004 doubling capac- ly produces beams, angles, channels, squares, 82 categories. ity to 2Mt/y. rounds and flats. It has established wide commercial diversifi- Although Deacero’s expansion in steelmak- cation within a limited product category range. ing has been based on greenfield projects rather Company size It was established to supply the needs of the than acquisitions of existing crude steel capaci- Deacero has been fully controlled by the wire market and this focus has continued for six ty, it has purchased many downstream facilities. Gutiérrez Family since its beginning. Because it decades. For instance, in 1999, it acquired Aceros is in private ownership the company is not list- Today, Deacero is the key player in Mexico’s Nacionales from Ahmsa, which was experienc- ed and the availability of financial information steel wire market. The important question for ing financial difficulties at that time. However, is relatively scarce. Total turnover reached the company is: After Ramos Arizpe achieves Aceros Nacionales’ meltshop had already been $3.4bn in 2012 but $700M of this refers to full capacity, what next? It seems that the possi- closed in the late 1990s, therefore, the main intra-company transactions. Consequently, its bility of continuing this strategy within Mexico motivation of Deacero for this transaction was net sales were equivalent to $2.7bn. will end. If this interpretation is correct, what to increase its market share in the steel wire With its three minimills, Deacero has a com- can be the next steps? business. bined crude steel capacity of 3.5Mt/y. In addi- – To further increase rolled product diversifica- tion, the firm has 16 wire plants, of which 13 tion within Mexico’s carbon long steel mar- A third minimill are in Mexico and three in the USA. These aim ket – maybe increasing the share of rebars In February 2012, Deacero launched its new to be located near to customers (Map 2). The and merchant bars in its product mix? profiles rolling mill, located in Ramos Arizpe, total nominal capacity of these 16 wire compa- – To become more global in wire production followed by the introduction of a minimill a nies is 1.4Mt/y. (as is already observed in the USA), while year later (Map 1). It is important to emphasise Deacero claims to be the second largest steel maintaining crude steel production in that Deacero’s steelmaking operations ran at wire producer in the world, and the biggest in Mexico? 100% capacity in 2011, which explains the rea- the NAFTA region. It owns 28 distribution units – To become more global though the develop- son to erect a new mill. in Mexico and the USA, showing that it has a ment of strategic alliances with local steel At a cost of $550M, Ramos Arizpe will initial- high degree of forward vertical integration. workers, a similar strategy to Bekaert? ly operate with a output of 550kt/y, but this will But Deacero also has strong backward verti- – To become more global via the construction eventually increasing to 1.5Mt/y capacity. It will cal integration too. It owns 16 scrap yards in or acquisition of further steelworks abroad? generate 600 new jobs. This industrial complex Mexico, with a 3.6Mt/y combined capacity focuses solely on merchant bars and profiles (Map 3). It processes both ferrous scrap (90% Having succeeded well to date, the Gutiérrez that will be mainly sold to the domestic market. going for its own consumption and 10% to the Family has a good dilemma to be solved for the The company says that the new facility has a market) and non-ferrous scrap (100% for the company’s future growth.

3 steel 16 wire plants 16 scrap yards mills

Map 1 Location of Deacero’s steel mills Map 2 Location of wire mills Map 3 Location of scrap yards

*Professor in Economics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. email [email protected]

12 – July/August 2013 – Steel Times International www.steeltimesint.com China_Layout 1 7/10/13 12:29 PM Page 1

CHINA Update Anti-dumping duty on Chinese stainless tube

Despite China joining the WTO in 2004, it has suffered 31 anti-dumping duties on its exports of steel products since 2009 which it finds difficult to defend due to a lack of suitable expertise within the defending companies, so, instead, it seeks means of cir- cumventing the levy by slightly adjusting the product specification.

THE European-Asian Economic Committee of products so as to increase the added value of of finished steel in the world, it has power to the European Union (EU) imposed a 19.15% these and thus their international demand. take advantage of international rules to create anti-dumping duty on stainless tubes from In this way, Chinese producers could gain a balanced and equally competitive environ- China on May 15 this year and this is planned greater profit or at least have a better chance ment for itself. to last for five years. of survival in tough market conditions. At present, the majority of European steel This is a heavy blow to the already weak Ɂ Finally, Chinese producers should work producers are suffering from excess capacities, stainless tube industry in China. The EU has more closely with industrial associations to tough competition, high energy costs and a frequently released policies that affect the obtain current market information both at series of other pressures. If they cannot win export of Chinese stainless steel tube with home and overseas. It is proposed that asso- the current trade dispute on seamless stainless exporters forced to accept fixed prices or fixed ciations should set up mechanisms so that tube, these pressures will weigh heavy on them export volumes, thus making them unable to market information can be released to mem- making them less competitive to supply the compete with their European counterparts. ber companies on a regular basis to help EU market. Restricting the European market results in them have a better understanding of a for- Yet there is large uncertainty in such cases. China selling more products to developing eign market and so to adjust production and The Chinese side needs to be fully prepared to countries, but these often buy at less competi- avoid competition with other producers in argue its case to reduce the negative impact of tive prices, thus squeezing the profits of China. duties as much as possible. Adjusting the prod- Chinese producers. ucts, the market structure, expanding domestic On February 16, the EU Commission Anti-dumping challenges to China demand, and reducing overcapacity are all announced that they will start an anti-dumping Since 2008, the EU has filed 148 trade related examples that may alleviate anti – dumping investigation towards seamless steel tube (of disputes with WTO of which 31 (21%) are steel measures. diameter >406.4mm). related. Of these steel related disputes nine (29%) address imports from China. Action in good time Chinese countervailing measures Other countries which have lodged com- Chinese stainless tube producers need to take Since 2009, China has lodged nine anti-dump- plaints against Chinese steel imports so far this action in good time and not be shy in defending ing and countervailing complaints against year include: their position. China only became a member of global steel related imports. Of these, just two Ɂ Malaysia − On April 10th this year, the WTO nine years ago, being a relative newcom- arise against the EU, one on steel fasteners in Trading and Industry Department of er it is unfamiliar with the procedures to defend December 2009 and again in June 2010, and Malaysia initiated an anti-dumping investi- itself against anti-dumping rules and disputes. the other lodged in November 2012 when gation on imports of tyre cord wire from Chinese producers need to alter their vul- China’s Department of Commerce put in China and sent out a questionnaire to nerability to anti-dumping cases, by pushing place anti-dumping duties for high-grade Malayan producers and exporters of this for review of the anti-dumping rules of WTO. seamless stainless tubes imported from the product to ascertain damage. This can be There is a need to prevent countries from EU and Japan. The levy imposed ranges from seen as the beginning of an anti-dumping abusing the anti-dumping rules to restrain nor- 9.2% to 14.4%. investigation and also illustrates China’s mal trade. Chinese producers also need to The EU reacted by filing a request with the constant exposure to anti-dumping chal- improve their ability to solve disputes taken to World Trade Organisation on June 13, request- lenges. the WTO. ing talks with China on these anti-dumping Ɂ Australia − On February 12 2013, a case Also, the supervision and management of duties on ‘high-grade stainless seamless tube’. was formally launched seeking anti-dumping anti-dumping evasion measures taken by some The EU holds the view that the duty imposed measures on imports of hot rolled steel foreign companies importing to China needs to by China on such tube infringes WTO rules. If products, not only from China, but also be put on the agenda for discussion. Foreign the two sides cannot reach an agreement with- Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. exporters often take measures to get around the in 60 days, the EU would apply for arbitration Ɂ USA − On February 4, 2013 the US Trade anti-dumping measures imposed by China. For by a group of specialists from the WTO. Committee decided to initiate a re-check on example, some use normal trade to start with In its filing on June 13, the EU claims that hot rolled products from China. This is one and when anti-dumping measures are intro- China’s action has had a damaging impact on of over 30 steel related (including refracto- duced on the product they make minor alter- the EU’s entry to the Chinese market. Japan ries and finished products eg deep drawn ations to it, for example by carrying out some has also made a similar case. stainless sinks) initiated by the USA since minor processing activity so it is no longer sub- 2008. ject to the product specified in the WTO A tough situations approved anti measures. Chinese companies To counter the negative impacts on Chinese Due to the global weak economy, falling themselves have also taken such avoidance stainless tubes producers, Chinese companies demand for steel, and excess steel supplies, measures in the past, such as microalloying of exporting steel products are advised to take the most steel companies in the world have seen carbon steels subject to import restrictions. following measures: profits fall dramatically. As a consequence, gov- Further, Chinese companies need to employ Ɂ To focus exports away from a single country ernments are trying to initiate anti-dumping capable people who have a good understanding or region and explore wider markets, espe- investigations as a means of protecting the of law, business, accounting, and foreign lan- cially in certain developing countries, so that interests of their domestic steel producers. guages. In the future, along with the return of the availability of the product is made Stainless tubes products have been the key protectionism, more steel products will be known to potential new buyers by means of issue for these trade disputes between China exposed to investigations by importers and conventions and exhibitions. and Europe in recent years. there will be a growing demand for people able Ɂ Trading modes should be changed. Chinese The EU has proposed anti-dumping investi- to argue against restrictions. exporters of stainless tube must pay close gation in 2008 and again in 2012 against Finally, most Chinese steel producers have an attention to newly released foreign techno- Chinese imports of fixtures for stainless tubes. incorrect understanding of anti-dumping. They logy and trading policies and anti-dumping The total value involved comes to US$91.53M. may attempt to circumvent the measures to information so as to evade punitive duties The EU is the second largest market for evade paying the duties. This is the wrong through transfer of trading via third-party exports from China and China has been the approach; Instead, they should have the countries and multiple means of settlement. largest importer of goods from the EU for the courage to challenge such cases for which they Ɂ Technology upgrading must be pushed. past nine years, without a break. The value of must keep records of their main production Greater focus needs to be paid on upgrading this bilateral trade reached $546bn in 2012. documents and costs in case an investigation is conventional steels and developing new But since China is the second largest importer launched by the importing country. ᔢ

14 – July/August 2013 – Steel Times International www.steeltimesint.com Japan_Layout 1 7/10/13 2:09 PM Page 1

Japan Update Africa, opportunity & partnership for Japan

In early June, almost all political leaders in Africa congregated in Yokohama, Japan for the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), organised and hosted by Japan. The key phrase was ‘…from assistance to investment’…’. By Nobuhisa Iwase*

TICAD V was attended by representatives of investment between it and Africa. To this aim Japan. JETRO, (Japan External Trade 51 African countries, 21 African regional organ- the ‘Forum on China-Africa Cooperation’ Organisation), a government arm for promo- isations, 15 Asian countries, 25 donor coun- (FOCAC) has been held every 3 years, some- tion of international trade and investment, tries, the European Union and 64 international times in Beijing (2000, 2006 and 2012), but also plans to establish five more country offices in organisations. In addition, the heads of all co- in Ethiopia (2003) and Egypt (2009). These Africa in the next five years in addition to its organisers were present including Ban Ki- gatherings provided opportunities for dialogue existing five offices. Japan’s Minister of moon, Secretary-General of the United and concrete discussion on businesses. It was Economy, Trade and Industry also commented Nations and Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of the not the FOCAC gatherings alone that achieved that Japanese firms would double their work World Bank. this, but also Chinese political leaders frequent- forces in Africa to 400 000 in the next five years. The meeting was co-chaired by Shinzo Abe, ly visit African countries with the aim of increas- On May 31, Mr Shoji Muneoka, Chairman Prime Minister of Japan, and Hailemariam ing political and economic ties. As a result, accu- and CEO of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and mulated investment by China to African coun- (NSSMC) which merged last year, met H E Mr Chairperson of the African Union. In a keynote tries totalled US$16.2bn at the end of 2011, Armand Guebza, President of the Republic of address, Prime Minister Abe announced while that from Japan was only half this amount. Mozambique, and talked about the issue of the Japanese policy on assistance to Africa, includ- The flow of investment by China to Africa in development of the Revuboe coal mining proj- ing announcing a new assistance package, con- 2011 was US$3.1bn, seven times more than that ect in Tete Province in Mozambique. Also, H E sisting of approximately US$32bn made up of by Japan. Trade volumes also increased between Mr Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic public-private initiatives, including approxi- Africa and China. China imports a variety of of Uganda, visited NSSMC’s Kimitsu mately US$14bn in official development assis- natural resources from Africa and exports man- Steelworks on June 3. tance (ODA), and capacity building for busi- ufactured goods to the region. In late March, NSSMC acquired a 33.3% interest of the ness and industry achieved through the ‘African Mr Xi Jinping, the new leader of China, chose Revuboe project in Mozambique, SE Africa, Business Education Initiative for Youth’ also the three African countries, Tanzania, South and gained the necessary mining concession known as the ‘ABE Initiative’. Africa and the Democratic Republic of the from the government in April 2013. The total Reflecting the importance of growth led by Congo (DRC) for his second official visit to investment by NSSMC is estimated to be the private sector, a session was devoted to a countries, after Russia. This underlined that around US$600M. Through the project, ‘Dialogue with the Private Sector’ with the aim China considers Africa one of the most strategi- NSSMC plans to secure a stable supply of high of achieving direct engagement between cally important areas from both a political and quality coking coal from its share in the mine. If African leaders and representatives of Japanese economic viewpoint. the project is completed as planned, output will private sector firms. This was held for the first As an emerging market, Africa has shown a be 5Mt of coal a year, which amounts to around time at a TICAD plenary session. remarkable economic performance in recent 7% of the total imports of coking coal for Japan. At the close of TICAD V the meeting issued years. The average growth rate in the region two outcome documents – the ‘Yokohama reached +5.8% a year between 2002 and 2011, Chinese in Africa Declaration 2013’, which presents a future surpassing the world average of +3.8%. The In recent years international prices for steel raw direction for African development, and population of Africa is calculated to double by materials such as coking coal and iron ore have ‘Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017’, a road map 2050 from the current 1bn to 2bn people. This fluctuated greatly. Given the Chinese govern- of specific measures that will be taken under number will be larger than China or India’s ment’s policy aiming at stimulating the coun- the TICAD Process over the coming five years population by that time. Therefore, creation of try's economy, its steelmakers have increased based on the Yokohama Declaration 2013. employment through the diversification of output since the start of the year, this requiring The Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017 is an industries is the most important task for all the the purchase of increased amounts of raw mate- attempt to put into practice the principle of countries in Africa. rials. For the month of March 2013 Chinese African ownership as it includes not only the The development of human resources for crude steel production was 66.3Mt, a monthly initiatives of the co-organisers and develop- managers and technical staff working in indus- record high, and output continued at a high ment partner countries but also those of Africa try is a critical issue, and hence, the effective level of 65.6Mt in April. itself. Through a total of 46 official sub meet- combination of ODA and accelerated long- As a result, the international price of iron ore ings, seminars, symposiums, and receptions, term investment by Japanese businesses makes increased sharply in the April-June period. It is exchanges between high-level delegations from sense for the sustainable development of observed that the inventory level of steel prod- Africa and Japanese industrialists were promot- African countries. ucts in China has sharply increased due to weak ed. In this way, Japan gained a better under- Toyota, for example, has already shown one domestic demand and a raised production vol- standing of, and developed a higher interest in, model for long-term investment and human ume, which has recently brought about cautious Africa through the events and news reports in resource development in the region by a private attitudes for raw material purchases by Chinese various media. business. Toyota South Africa Motors Ltd producers. Japan launched the first TICAD in 1993 and (TSAM) located in Durban, South Africa, has The efforts by Japanese steel mills to secure has since hosted conferences in Tokyo every been building automobiles there since 1962 raw materials in Africa for stable global supply five years with the aim of accelerating develop- and currently employs around 8000 people. and production chains will be accelerated fol- ment in Africa. The previous meeting was held TSAM provides basic technical training for lowing TICAD V. But new this time was the in 2008. Until this year, the main focus had seven months and other technical and manage- focus on Japanese companies investing in been to provide Japanese assistance and dona- rial training for hundreds of employees every Africa. In Africa, demand for steel products, tions to reduce poverty. Promotion of trade and year. The company has also been running a pro- particularly for construction use, has risen investment between the region and Japan was gramme to develop teachers at elementary sharply and is expected to continue to rise, leav- not seriously considered, and in reality such schools since 1991. ing Japanese companies planning for marketing investments had not grown significantly in the During TICAD V, Prime Minister Abe and even foreign direct investment (FDI) past 20 years. announced Japan’s plan to develop 30 000 opportunities to establish more steel businesses In contrast, China started its own initiative in employees for a range of industries over the in Africa. Indeed, Africa offers an untapped 2000 both in the development of Africa and to next five years. ‘Co-manager’ relationships opportunity for Japanese companies which expanding opportunities for China to obtain between Africa and Japan is a symbolic word expect it to be the next hot spot for Japanese various natural resources and grow trade and both for public and private stakeholders in businesses.

*Independent steel economist, Karuizawa, Japan, e-mail: [email protected]

www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International – July/August 2013 – 15 india_Layout 1 7/11/13 8:38 AM Page 1

India Update

Dismal manufacturing retards steel growth

A slowdown in the rate of GDP to 5% in India resulting from fiscal factors such as high interest rates, high inflation, a depreciat- ing currency and increased cost of raw materials has resulted in the growth in steel consumption slowing to 4.47% in FY’13 and the increase in steel production slowing to 5.4% compared with an average growth rate of 9.4% since 2000 and a peak of 27% in FY03/04. By Sanjay Sengupta*

INDIA’S economic and industrial growths in Product Production % Variance FY’13 (April 2012 – March 2013) reached their in FY’13 (P) over FY’12 lowest levels in a decade. The country’s GDP announced by the Central Statistical Crude Steel 78.309 5.41 Organisation (CSO) on 31 May slowed to 5% Table 1 (above) − of which ISPs (1) 24.612 4.27 in FY’13 as against 6.2% (revised) in FY’12. India’s production − Secondary (2) 53.697 5.94 India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) of crude steel in Source : JPC (P) = Provisional (1) ISPs are SAIL, Tata Steel and Vizag Steel Plant. rose by just 1% in FY’13 over 2.9% in FY’12. FY’13 (Mt) (2) Secondary’ includes mini blast furnaces, induction furnaces and EAFs The manufacturing sector, having a weighting of 75.5% of the IIP, rose by a meager 1.2% in FY’13 as against 3% in FY’12. The core sector, Table 2 (right) Product Production % Variance representing eight infrastructure industries, India’s ferrous out- for sale in FY’13 (P) over FY’12 grew by just 2.6% in FY’13 compared with 4.3% put for sale in FY’13 in FY’12. (Mt) Cold Pig Iron* 6.180 6.85 In this dismal scenario, India’s crude steel − of which ISPs 0.678 35.06 production recorded a growth of 5.41% and the − Secondary 5.502 4.17 country’s consumption of finished carbon steel Less IPT/Own Consumption 0.081 (-)80.39 grew by 4.47% in FY’13 as compared to FY’12. Production for sale 6.099 13.55 Sponge Iron (DRI) 23.323 (-)6.60 Automotive growth sinks − of which ISPs 0.0 0.0 India’s automotive growth which had attained − Secondary 23.323 (-) 6.60 high levels in the past few years nose-dived to a Less IPT/Own Consumption 3.555 33.39 much lower level in FY’13. Overall, India’s Production for sale 19.768 0.69 auto-sector recorded a growth in output of just Finished Carbon Steel 82.071 3.78 1.2%, of which 2.61% was in domestic sales − of which ISPs 18.891 6.62 while exports saw a decrease dropping -1.34% Table 3 Sales and − Secondary 63.180 3.08 over FY’12. profits of some Less IPT/Own Consumption 9.085 8.39 Passenger Cars – the major segments within Indian steel compa- Production for sale 72.986 3.24 the Passenger Vehicles category with a share of nies in FY’13 vs *Surplus of steel making requirements supplied to foundries. 58% − posted domestic sales of 1895471 units FY’12 (Rupees x Source : JPC - (P) Provisional in FY’13, a decline of -6.69% over FY’12. Million) According to SIAM, high vehicles finance rates, in the range of 10.5 to 15%, high inflation, and increasing fuel costs all impacted on the growth Company Net sales/income from Net profit of car sales. This was the first annual decline operations (INR x million) (INR x million) since 2002-03 when car sales dropped by 2012-13 2011-12 % 2012-13 2011-12 % 2.09%. The auto sector has taken about 6% in change change India’s steel consumption in the recent past. SAIL 446970.61 46365.88 (-)3.59 21800.52 3543.35 (-)38.46 Crude steel production Tata Steel* 377250.46 336140.88 12.23 50620.97 66960.42 (-)23.39 Total production of crude steel in FY’13 was JSWSL (c) 382090.65 343680.05 11.18 9630.11 5370.68 79.30 78.31Mt, an increase of 5.41% over 74.29Mt in JSPL (c) 198060.78 182080.60 8.78 29100.11 39640.89 (-)26.40 FY’12. Table 1 details production by sector and Bhushan Steel 107440.27 99410.41 8.08 9080.89 10230.47 (-)11.20 variance with FY’12. Electrosteel Casting 19340.54 19160.66 0.93 970.22 420.38 129.40 *Tata Steel’s Indian operations only. Does not include overseas plants. Ferr ous sales C=Consolidated ‘Production for sale’ is arrived at by deducting inter-plant transfers (IPT) and producers’ own and galvanized plain and corrugated (GP/GC) Despite posting higher sales in FY’13, most consumption from gross production. 72.986Mt sheets 1.509Mt. Indian steel companies recorded losses due to of finished carbon steel was available for sale in India remained a net importer of finished the following reasons: FY’13 up 3.24% on the previous year. A sum- carbon steel in FY’13. - High cost of raw materials; mary of production for sale of iron and steel - High inflation; materials in FY’13 is shown in Table 2. Consumption - High rate of interest; Consumption of finished carbon steel in India, - Sharp decline in demand from construction, Steel trade after adjusting for variation in stock and double auto, capital goods, white goods, and other Imports of finished carbon steel in FY’13 rose counting in FY’13 was 68.979Mt, a growth of sectors; by 14.16% to 6.208Mt over 5.438Mt in FY’12. 4.47% over 66.025Mt in FY’12. - Continuing depreciation of the Indian rupee Major imports were Plates 0.862Mt, HR Coils against US dollar; 1.830Mt and CR Sheets /Coils 1.568Mt. Financial performance - Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Japan Exports of finished carbon steel in FY’13 Sales and profits of some Indian steel compa- and Korea which have increased cheaper grew 10.39% to 4.641Mt against 4.204Mt in nies in FY’13 as against FY’12 is shown in imports from these countries and is hurting FY’12. Major exports were HR Coils 1.615Mt Table 3. the Indian steel industry. ᔢ

*STI correspondent in Kolkata

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Oxygen steelmaking

Sixty years of oxygen steelmaking Of the 430 papers presented at AISTech 2013 in Pittsburgh, just 19 addressed aspects of oxygen steelmaking. This reflects the maturity of the process first introduced in 1952 and which has rapidly grown over the past 60 years to account for 69.6% of world steel production in 2012 equating to over one billion tonnes of crude steel (1073Mt) production. By Tim Smith*

For how long can the 60 year old basic oxygen steelmaking technology retain its dominant position? Picture courtesy Siemens VAI Metals Technologies

THE replacement of air blowing with pure oxy- enabled oxygen to be blown through the centre protecting hydrocarbon. The process was gen was first proposed by Bessemer soon after pipe while a hydrocarbon was injected sur- known as LWS after the three companies he developed his pneumatic converter in 1856. rounding the oxygen. The heat absorbed in involved. In the Bessemer converter air was blown cracking the hydrocarbon, which was greatest through a series of tuyeres in the base of a for butane (126kJ/mole) intermediate for Top lance processes refractory lined vessel – the ‘converter’. propane (104kJ/mole) and least for methane From 1947, experiments were performed in Bessemer recognised that the nitrogen in the air (75kJ/mole) protected the tuyere. Europe injecting pure oxygen at high speed via was detrimental to steel properties and limited lances rather than through tuyeres. The objec- steel produced by the process to mainly struc- tive was to decarburise the melt while produc- tural grades, excluding strip for forming appli- ing an intimate mixing of slag and metal as a cations. However, Bessemer had no access to means of removing phosphorus which was pres- the tonnage supplies of oxygen required to ent in the majority of ores available in Europe. commercialise his proposal. The Kaldo process was developed in Sweden at Domnarvet by prof Bo Kalling in which a Bottom Blown Oxygen cylindrical vessel with mouth tilted upwards at Although oxygen had been separated from air 20º to the horizontal was rapidly rotated by liquefaction as early as 1895 by Carl von (40rpm) while oxygen was blown through a Linde, it took the second world war to develop lance above the melt. While excellent mixing of equipment to produce oxygen on a tonnage metal and slag was achieved, wear of the refrac- scale. Post war, plant now surplus to the war tory lining was high (typically 90 heats max), the effort was thus available to experiment with in drive system was under considerable strain due converter steelmaking. Attempts were first to the momentum of the rotating 300t mass – made to replace the air blow in a conventional the surface travelling at around 30mph Bessemer converter with pure oxygen but the (48km/h) − and the process was relatively slow wear on the tuyeres was excessive due to the (60t/h output was typical for a 100t unit – tap- high temperatures generated. to-tap 90mins). Its main advantage was the To some extent, this was overcome by co- ability to charge up to 50% more scrap than injection of steam, carbon dioxide or hydrocar- other processes and also treat high phosphorus bons with the oxygen. CO2 proved too expen- irons. Introduced at Swedish Steel (SSAB) in sive but steam and hydrocarbons were used the mid-1960s, ultimately the process was dis- commercially. Fig 1 An early trial blowing oxygen into carded as not commercial, although the process In the late 1950s and into the 1960s, at Port molten iron in a ladle via a lance at Voest has been adopted for the production of nickel. Talbot, in England, the VLN (Very Low Alpine in 1947 Picture courtesy Siemens VAI In Germany the Rotor process was developed Nitrogen) process was used in which steam was Metals Technologies at Oberhausen. This also used a rotating vessel, injected through the tuyeres along with oxygen, but in a horizontal orientation and revolving at the endothermic reaction of the dissociation of In Germany, co-injection of hydrocarbon a much slower speed. Two oxygen lances, one the steam cooling the tuyere area so improving gases was first used in 1967 in what was known above the melt and the other blowing into the the life of the bottom of the vessel. The hydro- as the OBM (Oxygen Bottom Blown melt were employed. This vessel achieved bet- gen generated in the process resulted in rim- Maxhutte) converter at Eisenwerke- ter refractory life (130-150 heats in a 110t ves- ming steels forming when cast into ingots, and Gesellschaft Maximilianshutte using the annu- sel) compared to the Kaldo as the position of the low nitrogen content enabled these to be lar tuyere developed by Air Liquide. the lances could be moved along the axis of the rolled to strip suitable for deep drawing applica- The process was adopted in the USA in 1971 converter to even out wear, and, in addition, tions such as for automobile body panels. The by US Steel in a licencing agreement with the whole vessel could be inverted, and blown low N content prevented aging of the rolled Maximilianshutte where the process was known from the opposite end to further even out strip during storage and the thinness of the strip as Q–BOP. The name was chosen by the then refractory wear. However, the complexity of the enabled the hydrogen – which caused the rim of Chairman of US Steel, Edwin H Gott, and the drive system proved expensive to maintain and bubbles when cast – to diffuse out once rolled. meaning of ‘Q’ is not verified but is generally the modest productivity (30-70t/h) meant only However, the rimming nature of the steel made thought to stand for ‘Quiet’ or ‘Quality’ and a few units were ever built, these being located it difficult to cast by continuous casting, a BOP for Basic Oxygen Process. in Germany, UK and South Africa. process being increasingly employed around In France, another variant was developed in In Austria, a process was developed using a this time. 1971 at the Creusot-Loire works jointly with top lance blowing oxygen at supersonic speeds In the mid-1960s, Air Liquide in Montreal, the Wendel-Sidelor company and plant builder onto the surface of the molten metal/slag mix Canada developed a concentric tuyere which Sprunck & Co in which fuel oil was used as the contained in a vessel that could be tilted but did

*Dr Smith is Editor Steel Times International with a particular interest in Historical Metallurgy

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Oxygen steelmaking

80 continuous casting. This requires a steady flow of metal to be available which the short process 70 time of the oxygen converter can readily supply, 60 a large (350t heat) converter producing steel at Fig 2 Steelmaking 500t/h. This contrasts with an open hearth fur- 50 share by method nace requiring 12 – 14 hours between taps if 1980-2012 (%) conventionally operated or 7 to 8 hours if accel- 40 erated with tonnage oxygen, as in the ‘twin

Percent 30 hearth’ processes surviving to a limited extent today in Ukraine, Russia and India. These fur- 20 naces are gradually being replaced, generally with electric arc furnaces. Steel made by the 10 open hearth process amounted to 16.9Mt in 0 2012, equating to just 1.1% of global steel pro- 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 duction. The first LD converters were only able to BOF EAF OH treat relatively low phosphorus containing irons with a maximum P content of around 0.4%. Year Country Comment This limitation was overcome by co-injecting powdered lime with the oxygen which enabled 1968 USA Acid Bessemer only Andrew Carnegie prevented use of Basic (Thomas) Bessemer by buying the US patent irons with a maximum P content of 2% to be 1974 UK At Workington – Acid Bessemer treated. The development of this process, 1977 Germany Basic (Thomas) process output peeked in 1960 at 12Mt known as the LD-AC, took place by coopera- 1980 France Thomas process tion between steelworks in Austria, Belgium, 1980 Spain Luxembourg and France. A double slagging 1981 − Argentina, Brazil, India, S Africa & DR Germany together made 12Mt = 0.2% world crude steel (flush slagging) process was employed by inter- rupting the blow part way through, flushing out Table 1 Final Bessemer converter blows the P rich slag and then adding more lime to produce a second slag. The slag flushed out at not rotate. This method ultimately proved suc- Ɂ LD-KGC developed by the then Kawasaki this first stage was rich in P which made it suit- cessful and became known as the ‘LD’ process. Steel company (now JFE) in Japan which was able for use as a fertiliser (as had been Basic The origins of the name are attributed either to also a top and bottom blowing process. Bessemer slag) provided fluorspar had not been the locations where the process was developed Ɂ LD-OB – A combined blowing process added as a slag forming agent as this reduced and first introduced, Voest Alpine’s plants at developed by the then Nippon Steel in the solubility of the P2O5 present in the slag Linz and Donawitz, or possibly from the Japan. making it unable to release the P to the soil. German description, ‘Linz Dusenverfahren’ Ɂ LD-OTB – A combined top and bottom Tonnage oxygen has been the precursor tech- (Linz jet process). Fig 1 shows the first devel- process adopted by Kobe Steel in Japan, and nology necessary to the modern steel industry. opment blow conducted in a ladle in 1947. Ɂ LD-RH-OB – A two-stage process incorpo- As a result, the output of steel increased dra- The process today is also known as Basic rating vacuum degassing (RH). matically between the 1950s to the 1970s and Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) – the’ basic’ refer- again from 1996 when China became the lead- ring to the chemical nature of the refractory lin- Oxygen steelmaking co-existed with the ing global steelmaker with 90% of production ing making it suitable to treat phosphorus con- Bessemer process until as late as 1981 in some through the basic oxygen furnace (Fig 3). taining ores by the addition of a lime flux – regions of the world, but ended in Europe in Typically a converter uses 50-55m3 of oxygen Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF); Basic Oxygen the 1970s (Table 1). per tonne of steel or about 7t of oxygen per Process (BOP), or sometimes simply as con- The LD process was first commercially used tonne of steel. Recycling is a key issue and scrap verter steelmaking. by the developers, Voest Alpine Stahl in Austria charges of 20 – 25% to a converter are not A number of variants have been developed with converters installed at Linz in 1952 and at uncommon, but the scrap charge, which not since its commercial introduction in 1952: Donawitz in 1953. The first LD converter out- only recycles metal but also serves as a coolant, side of Austria was commissioned the following can be as low as 7%. Ɂ LD-AC − the AC standing for Arbed-CRM year in 1954 at Dominion Foundries, Hamilton, in Luxembourg and Belgium, the steelmaker Ontario, Canada. India was the first country in BOF vs EAF and research centre which, along with Voest Asia to have a LD converter shop, built at the The electric arc furnace is becoming a growing Alpine, developed a modification for inject- state owned Rourkela Steel Plant set up with contender for steelmaking. Similar amounts – ing lime to treat high phosphorus ores. German and Austrian assistance in the early or even more – oxygen can be used in electric Ɂ LD-CL – the CL standing for circulating 1960s. arc furnaces where today the energy from the lance, a process developed by the then NKK The rapid development of oxygen converter electrodes is supplemented by oxygen lances (now JFE) in Japan. steelmaking since then and the decline of open and oxy-fuel burners. EAFs are most efficient Ɂ LD-HC – developed by Hainaut Sambre- hearth steelmaking is illustrated in Fig 2. One as scrap melters – reducing energy needs by 70- CRM in Belgium which was a combined top of the factors that favoured the LD process 75%, and consequently the carbon footprint is and bottom blowing process. over the open hearth was the introduction of reduced to an average of 455kgCO2eq/t steel

90 000 700 000 80 000 USA - increased EAF steelmaking 600 000 70 000 USSR China 500 000 60 000 400 000 50 000 300 000 40 000 200 000 30 000 Germany tonnes x1000 USA 100 000 tonnes x1000 20 000 India 0 10 000 France 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 UK -100 000 0 Austria 1940 2010 Austria France FR Germany UK USSR USA PR China India 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2020 Austria France FR Germany UK USSR USA India

Fig 3 Growth of oxygen steelmaking (left) including China (right) excluding China (kt)

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Oxygen steelmaking

Region BOF % EAF % Crude (Mt)

Asia 79.4 20.4 1012 Asia excl China 54.2 45.8 295.5 CIS 63.7 22.5 111.8 C & S America 63.5 36.5 47.4 EU 58.3 41.7 168.5 Table 2 The relative NAFTA 40.8 59.2 120.3 proportions of steel Africa 32.1 67.9 15.5 made by the BOF Other Europe 25.1 74.9 38.6 and EAF routes by Middle East 9.8 90.2 22.1 region in 2012 Source: World Steel Association

compared to 1.88tCO2/t steel May 2002, Nucor commissioned from the blast furnace – oxygen the world’s first strip caster for car- converter route. bon steels, again the On quality issues, EAF furnaces Crawfordsville site was the pioneer charged with 100% scrap are limit- and in 2009 Nucor commissioned ed to the production of long prod- a second larger Castrip facility at ucts where the existence of tramp its works in Blytheville, Arkansas. elements in the form of copper In view of the increase in pro- and tin from the scrap is no prob- ductivity of electric arc steelmak- lem. But EAFs are increasingly ing plants, and their flexibility in being charged with part virgin iron accepting various charge types, in various forms such as Direct and also the political demand to Reduced iron (DRI) hot briquet- reduce the carbon footprint of the ted DRI (HBI), cold pig iron or industry, the oxygen steelmaker even molten metal from a blast cannot remain complacent to furnace. This enables high quality remain as the ‘senior’ method of steel to be made suitable for strip steelmaking. production, most economically via Although globally, EAF steel- a thin slab caster connected in-line making accounts for just less than with a hot rolling mill. The first a third of global production, such compact strip production (29.3% in 2012) its impact is (CSP) line was contracted in 1986 masked by the dominance of from SMS Siemag of Germany by China in world steel production Nucor Corp in USA and started (46% of the world total) and its up in 1989 at their Crawfordsville predominant use of oxygen steel- plant. Today, there are some 27 making. Table 2 shows the relative CSP plants with various variants proportions of steel made by the worldwide. BOF and EAF routes by region in Direct strip casting has also been 2012. brought to commercial production Solice should not be taken from for carbon steel by Nucor, this the apparent decline in EAF steel- time using technology developed making illustrated in Fig 2 from by BHP of Australia and IHI of about 2000, this is simply a distor- Japan. Known as ‘Castrip’ the tion arising from the rapid growth process uses twin water cooled in steelmaking by China from that rotating drums between which the date onward and the 90% predom- molten metal is cast. This concept inance of the BOF process there.
was also a Bessemer idea Patented in 1846 but technically unachiev- able at that time. The technology Acknowledgement was first proved for stainless steel Much of the information on the early in a number of projects, the first days of oxygen steelmaking was successful being in 2003 by derived from ‘Modern Steelmaking Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Methods’ by C Moore & R I Marshall Machinery of Japan. However, it Published by the Institute of never proved profitable as a means Metallurgists as Monograph No 6 of making stainless steel strip. In 1980.

This 25t heat Bessemer converter from Workington NW England was the last to be blown in UK in July 1974. It is now on display at Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield bg 2_Layout 1 7/11/13 8:58 AM Page 1

Dry vacuum pump degassing

The pump room to serve a 120t degasser illustrates the use of multiple small units which offer economies of scale in manufac- ture of the pump units Pic courtesy Oerlikon Leybold Latest developments in mechanical vacuum pumps for steel degassing Originally applied to relatively small heats, to-day heats as large as 230t are being degassed using pre-assembled modules of skid mounted dry vacuum pumps. Improved oil-free pump designs, filter systems and power frequency speed control ensure many years of operation with minimum maintenance while the adoption of identical ’off-the-shelf’ pumps reduces capital costs, spares inventory and provides built-in redundancy. By Dr-Ing Wilhelm Burgmann*

THE progress of dry operating mechanical vac- with large internal compression such as claw Today, pump-sets for vacuum steel degassing uum pumps in use for steel degassing and their pumps, multiple trilobe Roots pumps or all consist of dry operating endless screw pumps merits against steam ejectors has been reported endless screws. These dry running pumps as primary pumps with variable paths, and two from several sides[1-11]. can replace oil sealed rotary vane and rotary to four further Roots pump stages as boosters. Progress has been made not only in the ton- piston pumps since at equal suction capacity Typically all stages are controlled by power fre- nage of steel that is degassed with these pumps they offer the advantages of reaching a lower quency adjustment. and their worldwide spread but also in the field pressure, running quieter, produce less of achieved quality[5-6] as well as the reliability vibration, are lighter, more compact and are Investment costs of the pumps and of their associated necessary nearly maintenance free. In fact the modern Vacuum pumps have not been developed espe- dust abatement and gas cooling systems. Some endless screw pumps do not need any exter- cially for steel degassing, pumps having been plants have been working for over 20 years nal oil filter and no exchange of large proved for other vacuum applications such as without any maintenance needed on the rotor, amounts of oil (up to 70 litres per vane coating, drying, use in the chemical industry and without replacement required for any bear- pump every 3 weeks). Also, the exhaust is and solar techniques have been used success- ing. Gear box oil only requires changing every free of oil avoiding a ‘greasy’ atmosphere in fully in steel degassing. 10 000 hours of operation and exchange of the the vicinity. Some typical pumps in use from several sup- filter sleeve has not been necessary during the • The development of pumps with water pliers are listed in Table 1. The list does not past 10 years of pump operation[9]. cooled potted motors is described later. claim to be exhaustive regarding all suppliers However, other plants have experienced and regarding the models of available pumps. problems because of poor filter design, non Indeed, the large number of medium size Roots automatic filter sleeve cleaning and inappropri- 8000m3/h pumps as well as all pre-inlet cooled Roots ate dust extraction management. Also, the raw 7500m3/h pumps are not included in the table. gas valves were not always resistant to the high 12500m3/h The cost of manufacturing pumps depends speed dust particles in the unfiltered warm off- 16500m3/h to a large extent on the quantities in which they gas thus leading to a lack of gas tightness after 27000m3/h are fabricated and distributed. In terms of spe- a while in use and generating filter problems. 40000m3/h cific cost per suction capacity (€/m³/h) it may Some water/air heat exchangers between the 80000m3/h turn out that smaller pumps made in large num- various pump stages started to leak after some bers are cheaper than a few large pumps made 5 years of system use and had to be replaced. 2000 Specific on order for steel degassing. 4 Acid condensates caused corrosion problems. 1000 cost in € This situation is demonstrated in Fig 1 which 3 500 3 Some plants have reported wear of elastic cou- Pumps per year per m /h shows the specific cost in terms of Euros per plings between the rotor and motor. 200 2 m³/h of some conventional Roots blowers as 100 80000m3/h The suppliers of mechanical vacuum pumps 3 well as a Roots pump with a water cooled pot- 50 40000m /h [13] have therefore made efforts to make the pump 20 27000m3/h ted motor (WH7000) compared in terms of 3 systems, including dust management, increas- 16500m /h 3 /h the number manufactured annually. 10 7500m3/h ingly reliable, more economic to run and more 3 Fig 1 shows two tendencies that affect the compact. In this way dry vacuum pumps can be 8000m /h manufacturing cost: considered for large heats from 150 to 350t, Capacity in m - The law of size dictates that owing to while up to now they have generally been used decreasing cost of material and man-power on smaller heats from 30 to 130t with some Fig 1 Effect of pump size and pump numbers larger pumps are cheaper than smaller ones exceptions for up to 230t – in an RH-plant[12]. built on the specific cost of manufacture with the same total suction capacity. Progress made in the past 20 years includes: 8000 m³/h eff OLV WH7000 at 70 Hz - The law of series enables a reduction of the • The use of low-cost frequency converters 7500 m³/h eff AM 15.11 HV at 60 Hz manufacturing cost as a result of less overall that enable fewer pump models to be neces- 12500 m³/h eff AM 16.13 HV at 78 Hz expenditure. sary, fewer pressure stages, and the use of a 16500 m³/h eff AM 17.15 HV at 63 Hz single pump model for all countries and for 27000 m³/h eff AM 18.17 HV at 50 Hz It is evident that a pump model produced in all similar pumping stages. 40000 m³/h eff AM 19.19 HV at 40 Hz the range of 1000-2000 items a year for all appli- • The use of dry operating primary pumps 80000 m³/h eff AM 20.21 HV at 32 Hz cations must be cheaper than pumps built in low

*The author is Consultant and Technical Journalist for Vacuum Metallurgy, Strasbourg, France, e-mail [email protected]

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Dry vacuum pump degassing

numbers even when they are much larger. Capacity in m3/h at 0.67 hPa Supplier Trade name Steel degassing plants require a multistage Nominal Effective* pump-set for energy demand reasons. Some pump suppliers offer the pump-set as a pre- 630 600 Busch Cobra NC 630 B assembled 3-stage skid, others do not. In Fig 1, 650 650 Oerlikon Leybold DRYVAC DV650 the cost of all accessories required for the 750 700 Edwards GXS 750 F pumps as well as the cost of transport and erec- 900 810 Busch Cobra NC 900 A tion in a multistage arrangement are included. 1000 970 Sterling Sihi SIHI dry S 1000 The cost advantage of a high production 1200 1250 Oerlikon Leybold DRYVAC DV1200 series of pumps is even more pronounced than 1250 1250 Unozawa TR 1254

indicated in Fig 1 when the completely erected PUMPS PRIMARY 1250 1250 Edwards IDX 1300 and tested pump sets including case-wise heat 2500 2400 Busch Cobra NC 2500 B exchangers, valves, frequency converters, pip- ing for vacuum and fluids, cabling and support structures are compared. 9000 7400 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik 15.11 HV In addition to this specific cost advantage the 10000 7500 Oerlikon Leybold WH 7000 smaller high series pumps offer a much shorter 15000 12500 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik 16.13 HV delivery time and a quicker after sales service. 20000 16500 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik 17.15 HV One manufacturer of vacuum pumps, 26000 22000 Pfeiffer Vacuum WKP 25000 Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum (OLV), have opted 33000 26500 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik 18.17 HV PUMPS for a combination of two of their proven 36000 28300 Dresser HV 40000 pumps, the endless screw pump DV1200 and a 47500 40000 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik 19.19 HV ROOTS BOOSTER rather small, but fast running Roots pump 96000 80000 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik 20.21 HV WH7000[13]. Only two types of pumps are *Note: The effective suction capacity depends upon the compression ratio that is achieved by the number of pressure stages (3 to 5) and by the choice used for a 3-stage-layout. Other pump suppliers of intermediate pumps. intend to follow this route even with larger pumps. Table 1 Main primary and booster pumps available for steel degassing

Pump and motor assembly Traditional roots pump design Beside the important lower cost factor achieved Piston ring seal Lip-type shaft seal Oiler by building pumps in large quantities it is worth highlighting other advantages: One essential feature of the new design of these pumps is the brush- and spark-less potted Vacuum water cooled motor as illustrated in Fig 2. Fig 2 shows the essential differences between Rotor a traditional pump design and the new pump with hermetically sealed motor. The advantages of this new pump and motor Oil Oil assembly are evident: – Water cooling of bearings, oil chambers and Atmosphere Flange-motor motors permits higher compression ratios Gear Ball bearing than conventional Roots pumps such that Coupling the lowest pressures can be reached in a 3- stage layout. No inter-stage heat exchangers are needed; – No shaft sealing towards the atmosphere is Life time limited by dust sensitive shaft-seal design coupling and motor-bearing wear required. Therefore the reliability and robustness of the pumps is greatly increased. Innovative hermetically sealed design They can be started at any vacuum pressure Piston ring seal Static O-ring seal Potted Motor-stator during a batch-wise operation; – No elastic couplings between rotor and motor are required which can wear. The fre- quency controlled motor is assembled directly on the rotor shaft and accelerates the pump in a very smooth and controlled Vacuum way. This integrated design makes the Motor rotor pumps extremely compact and hermetically tight; – No sparks at motor brush contacts; – No motor bearings; – Owing to the water cooling of the motors Gear these can be operated at high current Atmosphere intensities and in a broad frequency range Ball bearing Water cooling including very low frequencies. - Designed hor highest reliability - No wear parts as shaft-seals, couplings or motor bearings Standardised modular build-up - Rotary speed up to 70 Hz possible (9.800m3/h) Modular build-up of the pump unit is made by assembling them on a two level skid. Fig 2 Traditional and the new pump with potted motor assembly A standard skid for a three-stage combina- tion of pumps (6-2-2) for a 45t melt consists of: • The third stage consists of six Roots pumps, being called the lowest vacuum stage nearest • The primary stage of two endless screw identical to the Roots pumps of the second the process unit). units mounted on rollers at floor level; stage. They are mounted on the upper level The layout of a standard 6-2-2-unit for a 20t • The second stage of two Roots pumps is on frame and are already connected to a com- VOD is shown in Fig 3. a roller frame also at floor level. These two mon header and collector. All connections for water in/out, purge gas, stages are rolled under the skid to be con- (It should be noted here that some manufac- controls and data transfer are assembled on ter- nected by quick plugs similar to any laundry turers use a reverse nomenclature when minals inside the skid. washing machine. describing the stages the primary 1st stage The piping connections are very simple since

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Dry vacuum pump degassing

there is no pre-inlet-cooling or by-passing of Supplier any pump stages during pump down or during Pump type 3-stage 4-stage oxygen blowing. The modules are pre-assembled and tested Primary – Endless Screw Oerlikon Edwards Busch Busch Busch with its power frequency control programmed Roots – Middle Stages Oerlikon Edwards Pfeiffer Pfeiffer Aerzen at their manufacturer’s site. Roots – Fine vacuum Stages Oerlikon Dresser Aerzen Pfeiffer Aerzen Thanks to the high self-cooling effect of the Country of Origin D UK,CZ,US CH, D CH, D CH, D specially developed Roots pumps with water cooled potted motor along with the intelligent Pumps per line or skid 12 3 3 4 5 use of cooling water, pressure staging and the Number of lines or skids 4 8 6 6 6 smooth pump-down these modules do not Pumps per complete set 48 24 18 22 30 need any inter-stage heat exchanger even when Number heat exchangers 0 8 6 6 3 employed to create vacuum in processes using oxygen blowing such as VOD, VD-OB, RH- Suction capacity @ 0.67hPa m3/h 225 000 226 500 216 000 230 000 240000 OB at high density and can be employed with- Suction capacity @ 100Pa m3/h 22 240 18 400 23 000 23 000 24000 out any restriction on the oxygen blowing rate. The pre-assembled third stage top unit with Installed motor power kW 960 920 1608 1332 1560 manifold fits into a 6m open top container Cooling water flow @ 35ºC inlet m3/h 22 58 51 30 72 ready for any means of transport. The under Oil Volume 209 412 432 842 402 skid units – stages 1 and 2 pumps, the lubricat- ing oil, the frequency controls for the Roots Pump room dimensions (L x W x H) m 16/10/5 11/21/5 13/13/6 11/14/4 15/13/6 pumps, their electrical boards and the support Pump room area m2 156 221 176 146 200 legs of the skid are delivered in a separate con- tainer. The final assembly and connection on Max weight in erection t 12.0 7.5 7.8 4.0 7.0 site requires just a few hours work. Crane/Fork lift capacity t 0.7 7.5 7.0 4.0 7.0 The module can also be supplied in a light Noise in pump room dB(A) <85 <100 <110 <110 <110 version with fewer pumps (4-1-1 or 5-1-2) for Delivery Time weeks 15-18 20-22 48-50 26-30 50-52 an easy later upgrade or in an upgraded version with more pumps (7-2-2 to 8-2-4). Table 2 Pump-set All module versions use only two different performances of types of pumps which simplifies spare part various layouts for management and keeps spare part storage on high productivity site at lower costs. Large & very large capacities Larger suction capacities require several mod- Fig 3 Module 6-2-2 ules in parallel. An assembly of four modules of 45 000m³/h with an 8-2-2 pump configuration has an effec- capacity for a 20t- tive capacity of 225 000m³/h <1hPa in a 4 x VOD- plant in Russia 25% redundancy concept, with each module (length 5.5m, width isolated by a DN 800 flap valve. Such large 2.2m, height 3.5m) capacity is sufficient to degas a 200t melt size. It is interesting to compare the pump sets offered by several suppliers in terms of their respective requirements for energy, fluids and space. This is shown in Table 2. Table 3 Latest steel A layout example is schematically shown for degassing modules four modules each of 8-2-2 pump configuration from OLV in Fig 4 capable of evacuating 330m2 to 0.67hPa in about 3.5 minutes enabling much Year Heat size Suction capacity Configuration Process Country lower pressure to be achieved. (t) (m3/h eff at 0.67hPa)

Process suitability 2005 28 36000 VOD China The suitability of dry vacuum pump configura- 2006 30 36000 VD/VOD China tions is discussed for all types of vacuum metal- 2007 28 36000 VD/VOD China lurgy. They are applicable to the common RH-, 2009 5 5000 VD/VOD China VD- and VID- processes for killed steel grades, 2009 40 54000 VD/VOD China VCD for unkilled grades, VD-OB and RH-OB 2009 60 72000 VD/VOD China for forced decarburisation of low-alloy grades 2010 30 44000 11=1x(5-2-4) VD Germany and VOD/VODC for decarburisation of high- 2010 30 39200 VD/VOD China Cr-alloyed grades in ladles or converters. They 2011 120 165000 47=(21-6-20) VD/VOD China are also ideal for Vacuum Ingot Teeming (VIT) 2012 20 45000 10=1x(6-2-2) VD/VOD Russia since this process operates at pressures below 2012 35 60000 14=1x(8-2-4) VD India 0.33hPa. 2012 100 120000 26=2x(8-2-3) VD Mexico The OLV (Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum) sys- 2012 70 153000 33=3x(7-2-2) VD/VOD Croatia tem is also particularly suited for processes 2012 120 165000 44= (21-7-16) VD China which give off gas mixtures that may be very rich in CO, CO2 or Ar. The pump casings and All relevant local safety rules have been dust particles (condensed metal vapour) are flange connections can resist a 10 bar pressure respected for the pump systems since no stage automatically conveyed outwards. Also neither shock. During the development of the pumps is by-passed during the critical oxygen blowing water nor oil filtering is required. selected, long term trials were carried out under phase. An ATEX-equivalent certificate can be However, any mechanical pump has to be very harsh operation conditions. These includ- supplied on request. protected against excessive dust and hot gases ed crash tests to demonstrate that the pump by a reliable system of gas cooling, dust abate- casings would not burst even in the event of a Dust and vapour handling ment and dust extraction. This consists fre- blocked rotor. The selected ideal pump set is a ‘real dry oper- quently of a fabric filter and for some process Most of the 14 OLV-modules so far supplied ating gear’ where humidity is prevented from routes also of a cyclone and gas cooler in addi- are designated to also serve the VOD-process condensing and sulphurous acid or other tion to the fabric filter, always assuring (Table 3). aggressive liquids, are not formed as well as <10mg/mn³ of dust and <50°C at the pump

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Dry vacuum pump degassing

set inlet. In a correct design those accessories do not significantly reduce the effective suction capacity as required at the vacuum vessel. Automation Monitoring guarantees a safe and optimised operation. Automation includes the frequency converter and all electrical gear inside the mod- ules. Upon request it can be extended to the complete sequence of a vacuum treatment including the dust filter with its bag cleaning and dust extraction programme, the isolation valves, the vacuum vessel and its cover. Owing to the small mass inertia of the pump rotors and motors the pump set is especially suitable for pressure drop control or for an operation at constant volume flow. Various pump-down modes with holding points or sig- nificant delay of the pump down speed as well as VOD-modes could be laid down in the pro- gramme and do not require additional hard- ware expenditure. Also an instantly available frequency reduction of all or several pump stages can be realised by the operator via a push button. Redundancy is naturally given by the large number of pumps per module at each stage. In a module of the 4-1-2 type the single middle pump can be by-passed in case of failure by a very short pipe connection. In this case the unit works as a 2-stage system with about two-thirds of the full capacity. In one or two parallel modules with at least two pumps per stage all pumps can be automat- ically isolated by flap valves. For three and more Fig 4 Layout of four modules each of 8-2-2 pumps for 225 000m³/h capacity modules one can spare these individual isola- tion valves since each module can be shut off by Larger suction capacities are possible by 2 (2007) p 21-25 its main valve at the module header. In all cases arranging pump-sets in parallel using several [2] Zhang, Zuojian Molten steel vacuum refining sys- the pump unit continues automatically at a compact modules. This permits the use of tem and method Chinese patent ZL 2007 reduced capacity. mechanical pumps for large and very large heat 100174380, Certificate No 577533, 14 02 2007 sizes treated by the VD, RH and VIT-processes. [3] Bruce, S; Cheetham,V Recent Developments in Summary The suitability for all types of vacuum treat- Modular Vacuum Pumps Systems for Secondary Steel The evident advantages of mechanical vacuum ment processes includes oxygen blowing Processing European Conf Electr Steelmaking pumps against steam ejectors in the field of processes which require some safety consider- Krakow, Poland (2008) steel degassing can be accompanied by low cost ations. [4] Zemp, R; Stahel, J; Burgmann ,W Vorteile mech- manufacturing of standardised vacuum pumps. Protection against dust and condensed anischer Pumpen für die Entgasung von This has been achieved by a high series produc- humidity that might lead to acid liquids com- Stahlschmelzen Stahl und Eisen 8 (2008) p 45-50 tion of smaller vacuum pumps that have pletes the design. [5] Ivanevskiy, V A; Koblenzer, H Vacuum Tank achieved reliability in industrial use for steel The small mass inertia of the pumps makes Degassing Station with Dry Mechanical Vacuum degassing and other vacuum applications. them particularly suitable for a quick response Pumps for VD and VOD Treatment at Kamastal A new design of pump and motor assembly when frequency modulation is programmed for (Perm) Russia Danieli Seminar Buttrio, Italy (2010) p using a sealed motor offers advantages regard- a controlled pump down. 198-203 ing maintenance, wear and safety. Redundancy is provided in all pump set con- [6] Gottardi, R; Partyka, A; Miani, S; Volpe, M : Steel A standardised pre-assembled modular build- figurations.
Degassing Operations Using Mechanical Vacuum up permits cost savings during erection and Pump Systems AIS Techn Proc Vol I (2010) p 1243- start-up. The most modern solution is compact References 1252 and provides energy and water saving compared [1] Burgmann, W; Panza, S Pompe di vuoto per [7] Fandrich, R; Kleimt, B; Liebig, H; Pieper, T; to more traditional mechanical pump sets. impianti di degassaggio d’acciaio Metallurgia Italiana Treppschuh, F; Urban,W Stand der Pfannenmetallurgie und aktuelle Trends Stahl und Eisen 131 (2011) p 75-19 [8] Burgmann, W; Zemp, R; Godat, M Dry mechanical vacuum pumps in use for VOD and VD-OB processes Steel Times International 10 (2011) pp 23-28 [9] Gussago, G; Benedetti, E Personal information from ASO group Italy (2012) [10] Burgmann, W; Davené, J The cost structure of vacuum steel degassing including ladle furnace treat- ment Stahl und Eisen 132 (2012) Nb 6 pp 59-66 [11] Müller R; Zhuang, B Mechanical versus Steam Ejector Pumps for small and mid-size Foundries and Melt shops MTAG, Switzerland and Shanghai – Profitability study 10 (2011) p 1-14 [12] Bruce, S; Cheetham, V Dry vacuum aids steel degassing Vacuum challenges and solutions 8(2009) p 12-13 www.freshwatertechnology.com [13] Zöllig, U; Dreifert, T Latest generation mechan- Pump room for a 230t RH-degasser illustrates the use of multiple small units for economies ical vacuum technology for secondary steelmaking of scale. Pic courtesy Edwards Vacuum MPT Intern 3 (2011) p 98-103

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DRI statistics

Midrex forecast 200Mt DRI by 2025-30 The world’s total DRI production in 2012 topped 74Mt, setting yet another record for the industry according to data compiled by Midrex Technologies, Inc and audited by World Steel Dynamics.

GROWTH in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) out- with 5.7Mt and Mexico fell to fourth place with proposals to investigate the building of DRI put slowed in some areas of the world, primari- 5.6Mt (Table 1). plants within the USA, Canada and Mexico. Of ly in India due to domestic factors restricting Relatively new plants ramping up toward these, phase 1 of Nucor’s 2.5Mston plant in natural gas and ore availability there, but in capacity was the primary source for most of the Louisiana is expected to start up later this year. other regions increased production more than growth. Despite four of the top ten producing offset this decline. countries showing declines in output, other DRI production forecast Almost all of the world’s DRI is produced major producing nations showed new highs There are a large number of shaft furnace using either shaft furnace or rotary kiln technol- include: Russia at 5.2Mt, the United Arab plants currently under construction, represent- ogy. Rotary kilns use coal for heating and reduc- Emirates at 2.7Mt, Qatar at 2.4Mt and Oman ing nearly 20Mt/y of capacity. Even though tion and are largely exclusive to India. Most at 1.5Mt. By region, of major producers, the most of this capacity is currently scheduled for new growth in India and the remainder of the Middle East & N Africa showed the greatest start-up in 2013-14, a conservative view of the world is using shaft furnace technology which growth rate at 8.6% to 27.19Mt y-o-y. situation is that many of the plants are in loca- uses reformed natural gas or, in a limited num- tions where it will be difficult to maintain ber of examples, syngas for heating and reduc- Country 2011 2012 % change schedules as planned. Economic and political tion because of the shaft furnace’s reliability factors are apt to slow completion. Therefore, and higher product quality. India 21.97 20.05 (-)8.6 Midrex is forecasting these plants to actually Shaft furnace DRI technology in 2012 was Iran 10.37 11.58 11.6 come on stream over the period 2013 through led by Midrex Direct Reduction Plants which Saudi Arabia 5.81 5.66 (-)2.5 2015. Some of the plants will likely ramp up to produced 44.8Mt (60.5% share), followed by Mexico 5.85 5.59 (-)4.4 capacity quite swiftly, but others may take some Energiron (HYL-Danieli) plants, which pro- Russia 5.20 5.24 0.77 time. This should result in an average increase duced 11.7Mt (15.8%). The fluidized bed Venezuela 4.47 4.61 3.1 in production of about 5 to 6Mt/y over the next based process, Finmet made more than 500kt. Trinidad & Tob 3.03 3.25 7.2 few years. The balance of 17.1Mt was produced using var- Egypt 2.97 2.84 (-)13.0 Over the longer term, there are two signifi- ious rotary kiln technologies – often as a means UAE 2.25 2.72 20.8 cant economic forces likely to cause DRI pro- of treating steelmaking dusts − found in Japan, Qatar 2.23 2.42 8.5 duction to continue to grow rapidly. First, it is India and other areas of the world. expected that natural gas supplies will grow at a Table 1 Top 10 DRI producing nations (Mt) more rapid rate than in previous years. The tech- DRI growth and decline nology for shale gas production has radically World DRI growth slowed in comparison to China has not produced any DRI since 2009 altered the supply/demand picture in North previous years, primarily due to disruption of and then it was producing only 80kt. America and this technology is quickly expand- raw materials supply in the largest producer Apart from the ore and gas supply problems ing beyond the region. Second, the movement nation, India. Close to a 9% decline in India to within India, there were other forces that to monetise a penalty for CO2 generation is 20.05Mt in 2012, limited world expansion to caused global DRI growth to slow. The delayed gathering momentum and within the next only 0.8Mt, or just over 1%. Excluding India, recovery by some of the world’s major decade or so is expected to have a worldwide world production increased 5.3%. economies from the Financial Crisis of 2008- effect as more integrated mills will begin to use Despite its’ decline, India remained the largest 2009 is still placing a drag on growth through- HBI. Both of these forces will cause additional producer making more than 27% of the world’s out most of the world. Political strife in many DR capacity to be constructed. DRI, over half of which was made in coal based areas also detracted from growth. The expectation for longer term DR industry kilns. Iran showed the greatest growth in output On the positive side, the development of growth is that it will accelerate: sometime (11.6%) of major producers and was the second shale gas reserves in the United States and between the year 2025 and 2030, by which time largest producer at 11.58Mt, almost 16% of Canada markedly lowered the price of natural Midrex forecast worldwide DRI production to global output. Saudi Arabia was in third place gas in North America resulting in at least five surpass 200Mt/y.

Steel processing Fast tooling change for Chinese slitter Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation of China are to install a slitting line in their Anshan plant in southern China to cut high-quality cold strip for the automotive industry. THE slitter, supplied by Siemens Metals ing installation and commissioning. Technologies, incorporates a capstan type slitter The line is designed for processing automo- head, an advanced technology for fast change bile inner and outer panels with surface quality of tooling. The tooling change system is com- A (O3) and B (O5).The maximum strip width patible with the use of an automatic tool load- is 1850mm, thickness 0.3mm to 2mm and ten- ing robot, which will ensure better reliability sile strength up to 800MPa. The maximum and flexibility of production. number of slits that can be cut is 30. The recoil- For scratch free operation, the slitter has a ing of the slit strips takes place under back ten- special belt unit to provide back tension. sion provided by a scratch-less belt tension The line is scheduled to be commissioned in device of Siemens’ design. the second quarter of 2014. Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation is The scope of the supply from Siemens Metals planning to increase capacity of automotive Technologies includes process technology, steel production to meet the demands of the mechanical equipment, automation engineer- booming automotive industry in China. The ing, and all equipment used in the slitter pro- company has also announced further invest- duction line. ment in service centres in China to build up A capstan type slitter head enables fast Siemens will also be responsible for supervis- supply competences close to end users.
change of tooling

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Conference report

David Lawrence Convention Centre, Pittsburgh AISTech 2013 – A report on the annual event

8237 attendees registered for the three day AISTech annual event held this year in Pittsburgh. 430 papers were scheduled contain- ing contributions from 1300 authors from 35 countries. The exhibition was the largest to date with 509 companies participating.

AIST headquartered in USA, is an internation- nace operations, when combined with metallur- Next came the International Alliance Lecture al technical association of more than 16 000 gical coke, than the current standard practice of in which a keynote address is invited from a for- professional and student members, represent- using metallurgical coke alone. Steelmakers eign country to describe its steelmaking activi- ing iron and steel producers, their allied suppli- could envisage sourcing waste streams locally, ties. This was billed to have been presented on ers and related academia. The association is Depending on local availability some steelmak- Turkey this year. However, the presenter, Ugur dedicated to advancing the technical develop- ers may have easy access to palm char, others Dalbeler withdrew at short notice and instead ment, production, processing and application to vast mountains of particular plastics. the breach was filled by a very able presentation of iron and steel. Industries well understand the commercial and by A C R Das, Industrial Advisor to the Its annual conference and exhibition held convenience benefits of locally available raw Ministry of Steel, Government of India. each May provides the world’s largest gathering materials as well as the significant environmen- Mr Das spoke on the expansion plans of of steelmakers, processors and equipment tal benefits of reducing the use of coke, mak- Indian steelmakers and predicts that India, providers. In 2013, the event was held in ing good use of waste in landfill, reducing which is presently ranked fourth globally in Pittsburgh, the historical centre of steelmaking transport emissions by sourcing some inputs terms of steel production making 76.7Mt crude in USA and one of three locations regularly locally and the subsequent improvements in steel in 2012, will be come second only to hosting the event. furnace efficiency. Much of Dr Sahajwalla’s China within a few years. India at present is a The major sponsor of the conference was work has been assisted by contributions from net importer of steel but a slow down in its CVS Technologies – a supplier of minimill melt- the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research economy to a GDP growth of 6.2% in FY shop and rolling equipment and a relative new- and Technology (SMaRT),and One Steel who 2011/12 and 5% for FY 2012/13 has resulted in comer to the industry having been established were co-authors in the paper. For more infor- apparent steel use slowing to 70.9Mt in in Turkey in 1998. But long-established suppli- mation on the use of tyre crumb charged to 2011/12 while at the same time steelmaking ers of the complete portfolio of equipment, EAFs see Steel Times International Vol 36 No 6 capacity has increased to 94Mt in 2012/13 Danieli and Tenova and also furnace cooling September 2012 pp17-20. offering the possibility that India will become a and injection specialist, Berry Metals supported various other activities such as the President’s Breakfast, and a subsidised and free lunch as well as providing hospitality at their stands. The last surviving complete relic of steel- UKCG sponsored the CD of proceedings and making in Pittsburgh, the Carrie Furnaces, MTUS the airport shuttle/baggage check area. built in 1907 and closed in 1978 is not the Two post conference plant tours were also image for the 21st steel industry offered, US Steel Mon Valley works and The Timken Co Faircrest plant. As is tradition, the conference opened with two keynote addresses. The Howe Memorial Lecture is presented every second year and this year was on transforming waste materials such as plastics and tyres into raw materials for steel- making. Presented by Prof Veena Sahajwalla, of the University of New South Wales, Australia, Dr Sahajwalla reviled research results providing a fundamental understanding of different plas- tic wastes − melamine, high density polyethyl- ene, polycarbonate and Bakelite, as well as agri- cultural waste and tyres – and their transforma- tions and chemical reactions at high tempera- tures. Plant trials conducted at One Steel at their EAF steelshop in Sydney, Australia, where recycling waste is now standard practice, demonstrated their use. The waste streams studied have led to better, more efficient fur-

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Conference report

a bc

Pittsburgh is proud of its steelmaking heritage a)10 ton Bessemer Converter on display in Station Square; b) Open Hearth chimney stacks surviving in a car park mall in Homestead; c) Ingots alongside the Monongahela river

net exporter of steel again, at least until the Forum. A panel of six key executives, mainly commissioned in Q3 this year is Nucor’s domestic economy picks up. from the US steel industry, but also this year 2.5Mston DRI facility in Louisiana with a sec- The country’s portfolio of production is joined by Anand Sen, VP TQM & KPO Tata ond phase proposed. When first proposed, unusual in that it has a large number (around Steel, were quizzed by Jon Delano, Money Nucor had intended to build blast furnaces 900) of small induction furnace melting units Editor & Politics of TV station KDKA. The here but changed its plan in favour of DRI due which generally melt a mixture of coal based panel was chaired by George J Koenig, to lower capital costs and the expectation of DRI and scrap but cannot refine the resulting President Berry Metals who has chaired the cheap gas. Other DRI plants still at the plan- steel which is mainly used for un specified rebar event since it was instigated 11 years ago. This ning stage include US Steel in a jv with production. In 2012/13 24Mt of steel was made year, Mr Koenig gave special thanks to Ron Republic Steel at Lorain, OH, Austria’s in this manner accounting for 33% of total Ashburn, Executive Director AIST and all his voestalpine plans a 2Mt/y unit near Corpus crude steel production. The conventional EAF staff who had assisted him with the organisation Christi, Texas to ship HBI to its Austrian blast accounts for 25% of production and the blast during a period when he was undergoing treat- furnaces, Australia’s BlueScope Steel along furnace oxygen steelmaking route (BF-BOF) at ment for cancer. with trader Cargill plan a plant in Ohio and present for 42% of output. The BOF share is The panel, in addition to Anand Sen, consist- Essar Steel may now begin its long awaited DRI planned to rise to 60% in the next 4-5 years as ed of Andrew S Harshaw, CEO ArcelorMittal module at its mine in Minnesota. Here, the pro- large (10Mt/y) steelplants planned come into N America, Mario Longhi, Ex VP & CEO US posal had originally been to ship in gas from operation, although land disputes and environ- Steel, Michael T Rehwinkel CEO Evraz, Chad Canada. This return to DRI production on mental issues which have delayed these for the Utermark VP & Gen Man Nucor-Yamato and mainland USA is all the more remarkable as past decade have yet to be resolved. Carlos Garza President & CEO Tenova – the only a decade ago all the companies engaged in A third keynote address is delivered on Day 2 only plantmaker representative of the panel. this became bankrupt and the modules were at the President’s Breakfast when the numer- Nine topics were discussed over a three hour dismantled and shipped to regions of lower gas ous awards for outstanding contributions to the period with questions being posed by Jon prices. Shale gas is expected to meet 50% of steel industry are made. The lecture, in honour Delano as well as some pre-recorded video USA gas needs within 20 years rising from 10% of the late Rev William T Hogan, an eminent questions and a limited number of questions in 2010 meaning a growing market for oil coun- steel economist who died in 1990, was present- from the audience. try tubular goods (OCTG) which has encour- ed by Richard J Harshman, Chairman & CEO Of the topics discussed, interestingly ‘Safety’ aged new capacity – some say over capacity – to of Allegheny Technologies Inc, Pittsburgh. was in 6th position whereas in earlier years this be built in the USA (See Steel Times Although the presentation was an interesting had been at the top or close to the top of the International May/June 2013 Vol 37 No 4 pp17 & description of ATI’s activities which not only list. This reflects the improvement in safety 20), as well as attracting lower cost imports of include special steels, stainless steels and elec- achieved in recent years which has seen a shift, OCTG. trical steel sheet, but also alloys of titanium, zir- at Nucor, for example, from reporting only Not only can the USA benefit from such conium and other exotic metals, it failed to injuries to now reporting ‘near misses’ with the ‘unconventional’ gas and oil sources, but 38 broaden into the wider realm of the US or glob- aim of achieving a ‘beyond zero’ accident work other countries have been identified and 48 gas al steel industry. place. There has also been a change in the atti- ‘plays’, including China which has even larger Also at the president’s Breakfast the key tude of the work force from ‘I have to’ to ‘I reserves than USA. offers to serve from that date until May 2014 want to’ observe safe practices. Anand Sen Anand Sen of Tata Steel was more controver- were announced. Terry G Fedor II, US Iron commented on a ‘bi-polar’ attitude in India sial in his comment pointing out that India Ore Operations, Cliffs Natural Resources, where safe practices were observed within the imports 75% of its energy needs and has only Bentleyville, Ohio, is president for 2013–2014. works perimeter but not in life outside giving limited NG reserves and would like to import He succeeds past president, the late Kent D one example of over-loaded and unsafe vehicles liquefied NG from USA, but objections to Peaslee who sadly passed away a few days after being common practice beyond the works and a exports of LNG have been strongly voiced by the meeting. The First Vice President and disregard for building regulations, food hygiene US steelmakers. President elect for 2014-15 is Glenn A Pushis, etc. The need for contractors to observe the Market forces was the second topic of discus- VP & GM, Steel Dynamics Inc. – Flat Rolled same safety rules within works was now also sion. Demand for steel was down in developed Division, Butler, Ind, USA; and the Second widely enforced. regions, by 30% in Europe, for example. The Vice President is Michael D Garcia, CEO, Other topics addressed were Capital question of overcapacity was addressed. Unlike Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium, Witbank, Investment where, in the USA, the growing overcapacity in the 1980s when many steel works South Africa. exploitation of shale gas has significantly were still nationalised and governments could changed the picture encouraging natural gas intervene, today, most steel groups were private- Town hall meeting (NG) injection into blast furnaces, gas fired ly owned and consolidation had occurred to a Another regular event held on the third and power plants rather than coal and the return of greater extent. ArcelorMittal, for example, has final day of the gathering is the ‘Town Hall’ DRI modules. The most advanced due to be announced the closure of blast furnaces at

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509 companies participated in the exposition – the largest number to date

Florange in France and Liège in Belgium Anand Sen again expressed a different point Innovation was the 5th topic discussed. This despite, in the case of France, vocal opposition of view. While he accepted some exporters were was often driven by legislation such as reducing from the government. Carlos Garza of Tenova conducting unfair business, not all were; many CO2 emissions and having to meet the CAFE contrasted consolidation in China and the rest of of the workers in these exporting countries fuel consumption targets for vehicles. In-house the world. In China, despite smaller companies were producing steel at low cost through hard R&D was essential for innovation. being amalgamated with larger ones, the largest work for 48 hours a week, compared with a US Carlos Garza of Tenova suggested gasification 10 steel producers there only have 40% of the work force working just 36 hours a week. No of low rank coal to offer potential as well as DRI market, but the government target is to increase company, he said, can afford to subsidise cheap production, CO2 management and sulphur this to 60% by 2015. In the rest of the world, he imports, companies should address their pro- management. For example, the sulphur collect- anticipates further consolidation in line with duction methods to compete better with lower ed could be sold as a by-product rather than other industrial sectors. cost steelmakers. Good customer relations was treated as waste. Tenova were now designing Mr Garza also estimates global over capacity also a means of retaining a market share in the plants with zero water consumption, all cooling to be in the order of 429Mt, a problem that can face of imports, and also maintain relationships water being recirculated with only evaporation best be addressed following consolidation. In with smaller customers in rural markets, not losses having to be made-up with fresh supplies. USA, he pointed out, 30 steel companies have just the major consumers. He accepted, High strength steels and advanced HSS were disappeared in recent years but overall capacity though, that because China makes nearly 50% given as examples of successful development of has not changed a great deal. of global steel, just 2% of this exported equates new products to meet a changing demand in Anand Sen suggested that cooperation to around 15Mt, more than most individual the market. between producers rather than mergers and countries produce in total. Anand Sen pointed out that innovation in acquisitions may be a better approach. He esti- Growth Markets were the next topic of dis- understanding raw materials could enable mates over capacity in Eastern Europe to be cussion. Car sales were up 11% in USA, and are switching to alternative inputs as the need arises. around 100Mt, but pointed out that a lot of ‘so expected to reach 15.2 million vehicles in 2013, Chad Utermark of Nucor pointed out that the called’ capacity only runs at around 80% of its although still below the peak of 2007. Output development and training of employees was a nominal rate. was expected to be 15.4 million units in 2014. pre-requisite to innovation. Ideas from the shop Trade Wars was the third topic, and one of Surprisingly, the average age of the US car fleet floor could improve production significantly. 1 particular concern to US steelmakers who have is 10 /2 years providing the potential for future Recruiting the workforce commenced with seen steel imports grow 38% since 2010 and growth as replacements are made with predict- a video question from a metallurgy engineering even higher in certain products such as OCTG. ed sales of 17M units in 2018. The car market student on how to focus young people into con- Chad Utermark of Nucor said they had lob- provides a high value added component to steel sidering a job in the steel industry, in particular bied Congress for a ‘level playing field’ but one sales. However, it was noted that the automotive at a time when job losses were being problem was the delay of two years before industry uses only 8-12% of steel production so announced. Jon Delano also asked the panel if ‘damage’ to domestic producers could be the market for the remaining 90% was vital. there was a skills gap and also a problem with a proved. Present laws were not sufficiently agile Indeed, while rebar was a low value product its large number of the workforce retiring. to counter unfair imports before they did dam- high demand made it financially important. Andrew Harshaw of ArcelorMittal said yes age to the domestic industry, but he had little New house builds have improved reaching 1 there was a skills gap and regretted that gradu- hope that the Obama administration would million a year but 1.5M are needed. Growth is ates were not trained ready for work. address this as nothing had resulted in the pre- expected in this sector in the next 2-3 years and There was not time for new recruits to serve vious term of office. Mr Utermark also pointed this, it is hoped, will pull the country out of long apprentice ships. ArcelorMittal had set up out that imports put capital investment at risk recession. Non-residential builds have partnerships with 10 community colleges and and that Nucor had maintained full employ- remained ‘dead’ without much recovery antici- offer internships so students could experience ment for its workforce during lean times. pated for the next 2-3 years. life in industry. They also supported a Currency manipulation (a veiled comment Further spending on infrastructure was also ‘Steelworkers for the Future’ 2-3 year graduate on China) should also be tackled, although no needed with, for example, a third of bridges in programme in mechanical or electrical engi- one pointed out that the highest imports to USA being grade ‘D’ with restrictions for traf- neering. USA come from Canada, Mexico and EU fic. $2.2tr was estimated as needed to replace Mario Longhi of USS also agreed there was a countries, while China ranked 8th in March these. Private/Public partnerships were suggest- skills gap particularly as a large proportion of the 2013 at 136kston viz 489kston from Canada) as ed as a means of funding this. workforce was reaching retirement and there an exporter to USA Manufacturing is presently pulling the econ- were few people to replace them as recruitment Mario Longhi of US Steel was particularly omy out of recession. had been curtailed in the lean years of the 1980s. concerned about imports of OCTG which had Michael Rehwinkel of Evraz commenting on USS were also engaging with local colleges and grown 50%, much of this coming from South the pipe market said that railroads could trans- universities in an attempt to attract staff. Korea. Also, Vietnam had increased exports to port oil faster than pipe lines but that both It was also important to train teachers so that USA from just 140t in 2010 to 220kt in 2012. means of conveying oil could live side by side. they could see the opportunities in industry and

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not direct all their students to careers in finance smelting reduction processed was presented by and has little practical merit. and law or other non-technical subjects. Márcio Fernandes da Cunha Rodrigues et al In contrast, a paper on the production of All the other panel members spoke on similar from the Federal University of Ouro Preto, charcoal by means of microwaves by P Assis et programmes to engage with students. Anand Brazil, which provided a historic look at now al also of the Federal University of Ouro Preto, Sen also added there was a need to mentor new largely shelved processes. Brazil, showed an interesting approach which employees and develop a ‘family’ feel within Thin slab casting is well established with improved yield by nearly 10% from 29% for the company to attract and retain a workforce. SMS’s CSP process dominating (8 mentions) conventional kiln treatment to 38% for The topic then morphed into the final two but increasingly being challenged by Danieli’s microwave treatment and a reduction in time topics, Perception and Challenges. long mould high speed casters (no mention) from 7-12 days to 3-7 hours. On perception, again Anand Sen threw a and strip casting (no mention) has found com- The main drawback is the need to process challenge down decrying the pictures of the old mercial application only at Nucor for casting the timber into equal length blocks. A 2t/h Pittsburgh steelplants showing smoking stacks carbon steels, the fairly numerous stainless strip demonstration plant is in operation which and dirty buildings that greeted him on arrival casters having been technically successful but requires one MW of power per tonne of wood at the airport. “We must show people a modern not commercial to operate. Noticeably absent carbonised. vibrant and clean industry,” he said, and teach was any progress report on Kobe’s ITMk3 coal In a paper not included in the Proceedings people that steel is not the cause of Climate based rotary hearth ironmaking plant now in the production of briquettes from mill dusts Change, emitting just 4% of global man-made commercial operation by Steel Dynamics – a and rolling scale by extrusion was presented by CO2. technology now unlikely to be repeated in a US Rick Steele. Using a typical binder of 6% site due to the availability of cheap gas. Also cement and 0.5% bentonite briquettes were Technical presentations absent were papers on any of the other rotary made from equal weights of BOF dust and Recent AISTech conferences have focussed hearth processes mainly used to treat mill dusts sludge with sufficient green strength after a few more on the fine tuning of processes rather such as Fastmet and Zincox. On casting, there days curing to be transported and charged to a than many innovative technologies as was the was no presentation on Nucor’s strip caster or steelmaking furnace. A simulation of charging case in the 1990s when topics such as direct Salzgitter’s belt caster. to the ITMk3 rotary hearth also suggests suc- smelting, thin slab casting and strip casting Breakthrough technologies for low CO2 cess here. were the vogue. steelmaking failed to get a look in, although Space cannot allow justice to all the technical Today smelting reduction is represented only some papers addressed means of alleviating presentations but a searchable CD containing by the Corex process (mentioned in 4 papers) emissions such as by injection of plastics or the the papers in pdf format is available for pur- and its modification, Finex (3 mentions) which use of bio-fuels. However, a paper on the use of chase from AIST for $125 for members and see application in very specific situations cattle dung to generate bio-gas presented by $160 for nonmembers from depending on raw materials available and use of students of the Federal University of Ouro www.steellibrary.com/PartDetails/tabid/56/par- the high calorific off-gas. A good round up of Preto was largely a repeat of the previous year tid/080066045051054052/Default.aspx ᔢ

Diary Date AISTech 2014 5-8 May 2014 Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis www.AIST.org Abstract for papers to be submitted by 15 August 2013 e-mail [email protected] Tel +1 724 814 3036 [email protected] or info

0 1 1 0 0 1 1 th 0 4 International Conference on 1 1 1 0 0 0 Automation & Information Technology in Iron & Steel Making ITISM’14 Participation requested as Sponsors, Exhibition, Manufacturer’s presentation, Technical papers and Delegates Conference Topics: Exhibition :
Energy Efficient & Environment friendly Systems Technical Exhibition will be organised along with the
Modeling and Simulation for Process Control conference to exhibit the advancements made in the products and solutions of Automation and IT for Steel Industry
Automation & IT for process improvement in Mining, Raw Material Handling, Coke Making, Iron & Steel Venue : Ispat Bhavan, SAIL, Ranchi, India Making, Rolling Mills, Processing Lines etc. Date : February 5 - 7, 2014
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Process Control and Instrumentation On-line Quality Appraisal Systems E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]
Wireless Signal Transmission Important Dates : Please visit Conference website for more details Receipt of Abstract 31st Aug, 2013 Manufacturer’s Presentation : Communication to the Author of th Manufacturers and Technology Providers are invited in the 30 Sep, 2013 Accepted Paper Conference to disseminate technical information about their products /services / innovations being offered to steel Receipt of full text of paper 31st Oct, 2013 industry Organised by Media Partners

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Eurocoke Summit 2013

Germany’s Schwelgern coke plant has a capacity of 2.8Mt/y and a productivity of 17.7t/man/y – three times that of the ovens it replaced a decade ago

Global production of coke in 2012 increased to a record close to 650Mt of which China accounted for 68% of output. Traded coke was 15-20Mt/y, a decline from the peak of 25-30Mt in 2008, and prices fell 10-15% by April 2013 to around $300/t. The viability of coke making in the EU is threatened by the carbon trading scheme, a key factor for Poland which is the world’s largest exporter of coke.

KRAKOW` in Poland was the venue for 9th and coal and blend selection and coke proper- the Solvay brothers of Belgium and a relative, annual European coke conference organised by ties for blast furnace operation. Although these Louis Semet with the main aim of recovering Smithers Apex (and previously organised by seminars attracted an additional fee, the pre- coal by-products. Further slot ovens were Intertech Piri). This is one of two annual events sentations were made available to all the con- designed by other pioneers such as the Otto- organised by Smithers, the other being the Met ference delegates. Hoffmann oven in Germany and the Koppers- coke world summit held each year in North Of particular note was Ingomar Köhler’s Crossflow oven eventually leading to the mod- America which was reported in the April issue of presentation. A consultant for Procomco of ern slot oven with chambers of 6-8m high and Steel Times International (Vol 37 No 3 pp59-62). Germany, he commenced with a detailed histo- 400-600mm wide. 180 delegates and speakers attended the ry of coke making from the first use of coke to Following the history of coke making, Kraków event, an apt setting since Poland is replace charcoal in a blast furnace in Ingomar Köhler reviewed the world’s major Europe’s largest exporter of met coal. Coalbrookdale, England in 1709, a process coal fields mapping each by country. This read- Attendees came from a variety of industries, not which did not extend beyond England for near- ily showed the vast reserves in China. necessarily from steel, although none of the ly 80 years until 1788 when coke was used in a He then spoke on the properties desired of papers addressed these alternative markets blast furnace at Le Creusot in France. In these coke in the blast furnace (Table 1). which are for the chemical industry (eg soda early days, coke was made in a similar way to He continued with an examination of mod- ash). There were also a number of traders and charcoal using earth covered clamps and his ern coke oven design, both heat recovery and financiers present. presentation also illustrated how recent was the by-product recovery and their ancillary equip- In all, 16 presentations were made plus a use of inefficient and polluting beehive coke ment such as charging cars and quenching sys- keynote address on the pre-conference evening making which was still in use in USA at Dunbar, tems. Modern slot ovens arranged in batteries on 10 years of operation of the Schwelgern coke USA in the 1950s and into the present century are capable of producing well in excess of ovens by Peter Liszio of ThyssenKrupp Steel in China. Beehive ovens evolved into the better 2.5Mt/y. Larger ovens, such as those at (Europe) and its coke making subsidiary KBS controlled heat recovery ovens of today, while Schwelgern in Germany are not only more pro- Kokereibetriebsgesellschaft Schwelgern GmbH. the first by-product slot oven, more common ductive, but reduce the risk of emissions by Prior to the conference, two half day semi- today, was built by the Semet-Solvay company having fewer potential escape points such as nars were held on the principles of coke making in 1892 in the USA as a joint venture between doors and charging holes (Table 2).

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The seminar on coal blending was presented CRU believe production costs will continue by Jorge Caldeira, Manager Technical to fall in 2013 but then begin to increase again. Marketing of the Jellinbah Group, Australia. Mean Size 50 – 55 mm Regarding coke exporters, CRU believe that Reviewing the role of coke in the blast fur- Coke Strength After Reaction (CSR) 60 – 70% the removal of the export tax on Chinese coke nace, he identified five important require- Coke Reactivity Index (CRI) 20 – 25% will result in increased exports from China dis- ments: Cold Coke Strength (M40) 80 – 85% placing Japan and CIS countries in the market. – A thermal role with the reaction Cold Coke Abrasion (M10) 5.5 – 7.5% Oversupply of coke will persist increasing com- C + O2 CO2 generating heat Stability 60 – 64% petition between suppliers giving low cost pro- 94.3kcal/mol; Ash Content 8 – 10% ducers a competitive edge. – Production and regeneration of CO for Sulphur Content <0.7% Jim Truman of Wood Mackenzie spoke on 1 reduction C + /2O2 CO Alkalis <0.25% the outlook for Metallurgical coal. Following a –53.2kcal/mol regenerating CO2 at Moisture 3 – 5% hike in prices in Q2 2011 to $330/t FOB due to temperatures >1000ºC by the Boudouard Volatile Matter <0.7% floods in Queensland prices fell to a low of reaction CO2 + C 2CO Note: M refers to the Micum Index − M40 is the % material remaining $166/t in Q1 2013 but have since started to –41.1kcal/mol and also the reaction with +40mm round hole after 100 revolutions; M10 is the % material increase reaching $172/t. The gap between the 10mm round hole after 100 revolutions. steam H2O + C H2 + CO; contract price and spot price is widening. – As a structural agent to maintain permeabil- US exports have been rising since a low in ity for the smooth flow of gases upwards and Table 1 Generally desired coke quality 2002 where it fell due to competition from liquids (iron & slag) downward; Australian mines, but have now reached a – As a carburising agent for the hot metal. From 2010, coke pricing switched to a quar- record 59Mt in 2011, a level maintained in Too high a CSR is detrimental to this; terly basis from the previous annual setting. 2012 despite output from Australia having – As a filter for fines and powders. Current CFT price of coke in Europe was recovered following the floods. around £300/t, a decline of $150/t in a year. At least 20Mt of coal production has been The split between each of these roles has Coke production in Europe has been on a shuttered across the world and proposed new been determined empirically as about 60% of declining trend averaging –3.3%/y but this is projects delayed. Wood Mackenzie’s long term coke is consumed in combustion, 25% in reduc- partly due to increased PCI replacing coke and outlook for seaborne trade is that it will grow to tion and 15% dissolves in the hot iron. therefore reducing demand but also the gener- 150Mt by 2030. al slowdown in the global economy has reduced Environmental issues were the topic of the The injection of pulverised coal (PCI) at iron production and hence the need for coke. next session. rates greater than 140kg/tHM has the effects Europe averaged a net deficit in coke of 4- Aleksander Sobolewski R&D Deputy of: 5Mt/y from 2001-05. Production and demand Director of the Institute for Chemical – Lowering the coke/ore ratio; was in balance in 2012 but a deficit is expected Processing of coal, Poland looked at regulations – Decreasing the size of the raceway; to return in 2013 despite investment at HKM in in the EU countries. Europe’s carbon trading – Lowering the permeability of the coke Germany resulting in a need to import from scheme (ETS) is the biggest threat to coke pro- surrounding the raceway; countries such Columbia, Russia and Ukraine. duction in the EU and could lead to ‘carbon – Changes the temperature distribution in the European batteries are running at 85% utilisa- leakage’ with production going off-shore to a raceway; tion rate and the average age (weighted by less well regulated area. The benchmark CO2eq – Caused mechanical degradation of coke in capacity) has increased from 19 years in 2000 to emissions for coke production in Europe is cur- the raceway; almost 23 years today, but this is still below the rently 286kgCO2/t dry coke and the free emis- – Decreases the deadman temperature. global average of 25 years (excluding China and sion allowance is insufficient for even this BAT heat recovery ovens). level. The cost of purchasing the missing per- To meet its multifunction role, coke must Mr Jones believes exports from China are missions in Poland which produces around 9Mt have sufficient compressive strength, abrasion unlikely despite the cancellation of the export coke a year at the current ETS rate of around resistance, strength after reaction (CSR), reac- tax by the Chinese Government in January as €40/tCO2 will amount to around €115M/y tivity after reaction (CRI), a narrow size distri- the price remains around $20/t above that from making production unprofitable. bution and various chemical properties. Canada. They also have markets closer-by in Other emissions are now subject to The Brazil, India; and Iran which are more vulnera- European Pollutant and Transfer Register (E- Conference presentations ble to imports. Not all presenters agreed with PRTR) which requires 22 substances to be mon- Andrew Jones of Resource-net, Belgium looked this interpretation. itored and reported each year. Since this is an at the coke and coking markets in a European Further coke batteries are expected to close industry wide register, some of the 22 sub- context. in 2013 as blast furnaces are shut. stances are not emitted during coke making but All commodity markets have declined in price Anna Fleming, of CRU looked at the declin- they still have to be monitored and reported and compared with a year ago due to a global eco- ing profit margin for steelmakers showing the the cost of this bourn by the coke producer. nomic slowdown. Coke prices have fallen 10- EBITDA at about 5% at present compared with In conclusion, Dr Sobolewski believes the 15% since April 12 but the relative price between 15% prior to the 2008 crash. EU environmental policies to be a serious coke and coking coal has increased to a factor of The cost curve for coke production by threat to the sustainability and development of 1.8-2.0 compared with 1.6-1.7 a year ago. European integrated mills has a spread of the coking industry in Europe and will decrease Global production of coke in 2012 increased around $100/t with an average cost in 2012 of the amount of coke made in Europe. to a record of around 650Mt of which China $342/t FOB. Costs fluctuate, but China is the In a joint presentation by Prof Dr Michael accounted for 68% of output. Traded coke was highest cost producer at around $420/t in 2012 Karmis, Director of the Virginia Center for 15-20Mt/y, a decline from the peak of 25-30Mt while USA, Poland, Ukraine and Japan are all Coal & Energy Research, Virginia Tech, USA in 2008. around $275/t. and Michael Birnbaum of Jaenschwalde, Germany, Prof Karmis pointed out that in the Parameter August Thyssen Schwelgern Table 2 Comparison past decade coal has been second only to oil as of potential the major source of energy, contributing 25% of Production (Mt/y) 2.64 2.64 emission points world demand. Its growth rate has exceeded all Productivity(t/man/y) 5.5 17.9 Productivity (t/oven/y) 13.1 18.9 GDP at 7% GDP at 8% GDP Oven height (m) 6.0 8.3 Year 2016/17 2025/26 2016/17 2025/26 Width (m) 0.4 0.6 Crude steel 124 244 132 281 Volume m3 35 93 Iron ore 203 392 215 452 No Batteries 6 2 Coking Coal 89 173 94 200 Pushed ovens/day 560 135 Non-Coking coal 28 66 30 78 No oven doors 708 280 PCI 4.5 9 4.8 10.4 No standpipe lids 354 140 Met Coke 67 89 73 96 No charging holes 1520 560 Source National Steel Policy Task Force Note: The August Thyssen plant was closed in 2002 and replaced by Schwelgern. Table 3 India’s demand for raw materials for two growth scenarios

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Years (Jan 2007 - April 2013)

Fig 1 Change in global energy consumption 2000-2010 Fig 2 Fuel mix for power generation in USA Source Karmis VCCER Source Karmis VCCER

other energy forms reaching 48% (Fig 1). and the third on advanced heat recovery coke 2016 keeps Poland top exporter at 6.3Mt but However, growth depends on regional supply making. On the latter, in questions, it was China rises to second place at 5.7Mt, its growth and in USA, for example, the use of coal in pointed out that the building of further such resulting from the cancellation of the 40% power generation has fallen steadily since Q4 ovens in China has been banned. The reason export tax on coke at the beginning of 2013. 2010 and has been replaced by natural gas as was given as a need for the by-product obtain- The average age of plants in Poland is a mod- exploitation of shale gas deposits have caused able from slot ovens but some in the audience est 17.3 years but the range is large with the gas prices to drop dramatically to $3-4/BThu doubted the life expectancy of such ovens oldest being 30 years and the most recent 8 and also stricter environmental regulations pointing out that several have closed after just years. forced the closure of 9000MW of coal fired 10 years of use. Poland’s capacity accounts for 22% of the generating capacity in 2012 with a further Other topics addressed were enhancement of EU’s 49.6Mt/y capacity. 36 000MW planned for closure or conversion battery productivity, coke oven employee train- Stamp charging is mainly used in Polish bat- to gas (Fig 2). Eventually, 60000 to ing and safety and oven machines at the new teries because of the relatively high volatility of 100 000MW coal fired capacity is expected to battery for USS Clairton. the local coals which are blended with imports. close. The share of coal in total net generation The day concluded with a panel forum fol- A total of 11.7Mt of coking coals were mined in had fallen to 32% in April 2012, the lowest level lowed by a networking session held on a boat Poland in 2012 of which almost two-thirds were since January 1973, and continues to fall. moored on Kraków’s Wista river. hard coking coal, the remainder semi-soft. Despite this, Dr Karmis still sees a future for The second day consisted of morning ses- Consumption in 2012 was 14.0Mt of which coal in the USA. sions only with plant tours to Koksownia 11.7Mt was mined in Poland. Coal sold domes- The fall in demand for coal in USA provides Przjazn top charging batteries or Koksownia tically accounted for 85.8% of output in 2012 the country with significant export opportuni- Czestochowa Nowa stamp charging batteries. while 14.2% was exported. The main export ties for coal which have already started to mate- The morning papers addressed global coke region was the Czech Republic (63%) followed rialise with increased imports in Europe. production, projects and exports by region. by Slovakia (23%), Austria (9%) and Hungary China and India will lead the growth in coal Yevgen Arkhipov, Executive Director (3%). Imports of coal for blending came from consumption in the next five years. China will Concord Engineering highlighted recent and USA (55%), Czech Republic (31%), Colombia become the largest user and India the second new projects their company was engaged in. (8%) and 6% from other countries. largest and the major importer of coal. Turnkey projects and revamping by the compa- The focus was on India in the penultimate Michael Birnbaum of Jaenschwalde reviewed ny numbered 16 in the period 2003 to 2012, paper presented by Ahmed Shah Firoz, Chief the demand for coal in Europe where he said mainly in Europe but also one each in Turkey, Economist Joint Plant Committee, Ministry of use of coal spiked in 2012 as a result of cheap- South Africa, Brazil, Pakistan and India. Hot Steel, India. er coal from USA as demand there for power repair and ceramic welding is another area of Crude steel capacity in FY 2012/13 reached generation was replaced by natural gas. In their expertise with 34 such tasks undertaken 97Mt an increase of 7.7Mt on the year previ- Germany, the decision taken in 2011 to phase since 2005. ous. The utilisation rate was 80.4%, a decrease out nuclear power meant more lignite is being Regrettably, the author did not supply data of 2.6% on the year previous. Production of burnt to fill the gap. The use of coal for power on projects undertaken by other suppliers so no crude steel in FY 2012/13 was 77.3Mt an generation had grown 65% in Spain, 35% in UK global total could be deduced. increase of 4% on FY 2011/12. but just 8% in Germany in the first half 2012 Andrzej Warzecha, VP Polski Koks described Despite India now being ranked fourth in compared with the same period 2011. coke making in Poland. Total coke making terms of crude steel production its demand for By 2040, global energy demand will be 80% capacity is 10.7Mt/y from 25 batteries (one coke is less significant as only 42.3% of the steel higher than in 2010 and coal and gas will be the closed at present reducing total capacity to was made by the integrated BF-BOF route. The predominant providers of this. Along with oil, 10.1Mt/y). There are two major producers, remainder was made either in electric arc fur- these will account for 80% of the world’s energy JSW Group with a capacity of 5.1Mt/y produc- naces (25.1%) or small induction furnaces needs. 70% of resulting CO2 emissions will come ing merchant coke and ArcelorMittal Poland (32.5%), a method specific to India. However, from non-OECD countries. with a capacity of 4.8Mt/y, mainly for its own the target is to increase output to 124Mt by Research into carbon capture and storage use. Two smaller merchant coke plants account 2016/17 and 244Mt by 2025/26 assuming a GDP (CCS) in USA is being 80% funded by the US for 800kt/y of capacity. growth of 7% (an ambitious target since 2012/13 DoE in a project running from 2011 to 2015. Coke production in 2012 amounted to GDP fell to 5%). Of the new future capacity, it is Industry’s share of costs will amount to 8.64Mt of which JSW produced 3.85Mt, envisaged that 73% of total iron production in $14.375M over this time. Injection of CO2 into ArcelorMittal 4.25Mt and others 5400kt. On 2025/26 will be by the blast furnace. unminable coal seams and shale reservoirs is the average, coke output was down 5% on 2011. To meet these targets, Met coke demand in core of the project which aims to inject 20kt CO2 Coke consumption by all industries in Poland 2016/17 will be 67Mt and by 2025/26, 89Mt. over one year, followed by a later full scale test. in 2012 was 2.6Mt and is forecast to increase to Table 3 presents raw material requirements CCS is seen as being essential if the world is around 3.0Mt from 2014 to 2017 of which assuming GDP growth of 7% and 8%. to stabilise the accumulation of GHG in the about 2.0Mt will be for blast furnaces. Despite India having reserves of over 32bnt atmosphere to combat global warming. In 2012, 62% (5.4Mt) of coke output was of coking coal, much of this is unused due to Plant operations and management were cov- exported making Poland the largest exporter of land issues preventing access to the coal as well ered in the next three papers, one dealing with coke worldwide and well above other exporters, as its high ash content. The supply of domestic coke battery maintenance at SAIL in India, Ukraine (2.6Mt), Colombia (1.7Mt), Russia washed coking coal has not exceeded 10Mt/y in another addressing coke transfer car technology (1.4Mt) and China (1.0Mt). The forecast to recent years. Thus there is a rising amount of 43៉

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Platts Steel Markets Europe 2013

Despite growth remaining stagnant in Europe during 2012 with little improvement forecast for 2013, Europe offers the largest market for steel products anywhere in the world (excepting China) and there is still a role for the industry to play, in particular in production of value added products such as high strength and coated steels. A report by Tim Smith, Editor Steel Times International

LONDON was once again the venue of Platts’ EBITDA (Index US$, 2000=100) annual steel markets conference, the 9th of the 3500 160 series to date. Global Steel Earnings Global Steel Earnings (Top-70) 101 delegates attended including speakers Automotive Earnings Iron Ore Earnings (Top-9) 140 140 and 14 of Platts’ own staff, largely from their 3000 Iron Ore Earnings markets research team. Top-9 publicly listed iron 120 118 As the title suggests, most delegates came 2500 ore mining companies (45% of global iron ore from European countries including a number output,75% of seaborne 100 98 trade) 91 from Russia and Ukraine, although a few came 2000 87 90 2.068 84 83 from further afield such as India (Essar Steel). 80

The one and a half day event held 23-24 May 1500 66 was proceeded by a one day conference on 60 6160 45 ‘Green Steel’ (not reported in this article). 1000 42 42 Top-12 Automotive OEMs 40 Top-70 publicly listed 36 18 papers were presented in total covering (90% of global car output) 29 mills (65% of global 28 25 500 22 22 the current state of the European steel industry steel output) 20 18 in the face of a 30% decline in consumption in 14 170 6 2 3 3 34 the region, worldwide economic development, 0 129 0 remaining competitive, the dynamics of steel ‘99 ‘00‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 pricing, raw materials and, finally, end-user demand. Gordon Moffat, Director General of Eurofer Fig 1 The profitability of the global steel industry outpaced mining until 2011 was the first speaker and he stressed 2013 (LHS EBITDA growth rate – RHS EBITDA absolute value) Source Calis SteelConsult International would remain a problem year for Europe’s steel industry with little if any growth. A turn around, Gilles Calis, MD SteelConsult International production is moving from the Atlantic region he believes, depends on the availability of cred- was the next speaker. He struck a more positive to Asia which in 2012 produced 66% of global it and the faith of owners and investors in the note saying that the global steel industry had steel (of which China accounted for 46%) com- industry. been more profitable than the automobile pared with 11% in 1960. Of the top ten largest 2014 was expected to begin to see a small industry for a decade, but profitability in terms steel producers in 2012, nine are in Asia, five of growth in average European GDP of around of EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, which are in China. 1.3%, but with some countries such as Depreciation, and Amortisation) fell sharply in Europe and USA are the worst performer in Germany experiencing higher growth than this. 2012, but remains higher than the pre 1996 terms of market growth since 2000 which has A less risk aversion financial sector was also period when Chinese steel production first out- fallen to a negative –1% in these regions (Fig 2), anticipated opening up some investment. paced all other global producers (Fig 1). but never-the-less the market in Europe Exports from Europe had to be the main However, EU mills have been hit hard since remains substantial in tonnage terms at 148Mt means of ensuring growth driven by a growing 2008 with profitability down 80% since the pre today equal to the total sum of Brazil, Russia improvement in the US economy and emerging 2008 crisis. Raw material costs for EU steel- and India or of USA plus Japan. nations. The steel industry in Europe was a net makers account for nearly 80% of total costs of Imports of steel to the EU amounted to exporter of 9Mt in 2012 . slab production, and freight accounts for 4.5% 13.8Mt in 2012, but this was a 30.6% decline Mr Moffat addressed the problem of excess leaving all other production costs accounting on 19.9Mt in 2011. China and Russia, followed steelmaking capacity calculating this to be for 15.8%. by Ukraine are the largest exporters to Europe 350Mt globally with installed capacity close to The consumption of steel in Europe (exclud- accounting for 54% of steel imports in 2012. 2.0bnt while demand in 2013 is anticipated at ing Turkey) is declining at 0.3% a year on aver- However, Europe was a net exporter of steel 1650Mt. age and can be considered sustainable. Steel amounting to 9Mt in 2012. Protectionism was on the increase with some amount of import tariff imposed on 71% of global steel imports in 2009 compared with Finished steel consumption growth, CAGR 2000-2012 16% 40% in 1984. He also addressed the cost of the EU 14% Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for CO2 12% emissions imposed by the European Commission on European industry. For steel- 10% makers, even the best performers would fall 15% short by 8.5% of the free allocation of permits, 8% and the sector average would require 23% of 6% permits to be bought in at a total cost to European steel of €11bn a year. Electricity costs 4% 8% 7% 7% are also anticipated to rise 30% by 2020, and 2% 4% 4% 5% 5% while governments may provide some compen- 1% 0% sation for this it is only expected to be marginal. -1% -1% The European target for CO2eq emission -2% reduction is 80-95% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The burden falls disproportionately on -4% East Asia those industries subject to ETS trading and will Europe North (excl Other Latin CIS Global MENA Turkey India China require a reduction in emissions of 29% by America China World America 2020, 45% by 2030, 65% by 2040 to achieve an 87% reduction by 2050. Fig 2 Market growth by country 2000 – 2012 (%) Source Calis SteelConsult International

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By 2020, the cost of trading CO2 emissions risk; and further jeopardise Chinese steelmakers’ per- for European steelmakers will be between €8 – Ɂ Free Trade Agreements (eg Korea) Future formance which has shown lean or no profits in 25/t steel depending whether the ETS trading FTA: USA & Ukraine. 2012, continuing into 2013. price is a low €20/t in 2020 or a higher €60/t. Session 3 addressed how to remain competi- These prices represent 15-45% of the EBITDA While steelmaking capacity has increases in tive in a challenging market. margin achieved over the past three years. recent years this is all in commercial grades pro- Phil Dryden, CEO of the revamped Redcar Mr Calis concludes that despite hard times duction (Table 1). Nearly half of the flat steel furnace in UK which was bought by the Thai being faced there is still a future for EU steel. consumption has to be imported, especially for company Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) after The EU remains a major market in volume value-added grades for automotive and con- being mothballed for nearly two years used a terms, with a high share of value added, sumer goods. Nearly 50% of flat steel is import- video to document its revival. It was decided to demanding business. Quality, lead times, ed from the EU region. completely reline the furnace which will provide freight costs, service, delivery reliability, and Mr Ozdemirel fears China has the potential at least a 15 year campaign life rather than price risk all favour locally produced steel. to distort the world steel markets both in terms restart the worn furnace which would have a life China, he believes, is not sufficiently compet- of surplus capacity and price policies applied to of only two years. itive to become a major exporter of steel on a export markets. Assets purchased by SSI from Tata Steel regular basis. However, European mills may Thorsten Zimmermann, an analyst with included the blast furnace, coke ovens, BOF still on occasion be hit by temporary exports of HSBC Bank, addressed overcapacity in Europe steelmaking shop and a share of port facilities. excess steel from China. Any small imbalance in suggesting a modest 10-15% was under-utilised. The purchase price was a modest $500M but a China will translate to large tonnages hitting the While steel is a differentiated product by nature further $300M was spent on the refurbishment. global market. this overcapacity makes it a commodity indus- Slab is produced for export to SSI’s hot strip Imports of finished steel from Ukraine and try. No pricing power exists. mill in Thailand to supply the local market. On Russia may rise at times, but so far the acces- The EU has also been de-consolidated transport costs, Mr Ryden pointed out that bulk sion of these two countries to the WTO has not through the ‘back door’ he said. shipment of slab to Thailand by ship cost less led to excessive increases in exports to the EU. While cutting production costs are compul- than transporting slab overland to South Wales. Mattia Pellegrini, Head of Raw Materials sory to stay in business they do not necessarily Operations to refurbish the furnace com- Sector DG, European Commission made a rap- prop up profit margins. He gave the example of menced in March 2011 and the furnace was idly delivered presentation without the aid of the aluminium industry which has succeeded in relit in April 2012 with the first steel tapped slides. He accepted that the CO2 emission tar- cutting 9th decile costs by US$100/t but the three days later. gets would be difficult to reach and in questions price dropped by US$150/t. For profit, a bal- Of the 160 work force initially recruited, confirmed that the EC would like to see anced supply and demand is all that matters about half were former employees of the plant. increasing use of electric arc furnaces which otherwise consumers reap all the benefit. EU These and fresh recruits underwent an induc- reduce energy demand by 70-75% when melt- steelmakers’ margins will not revert to the tion programmed aimed at instilling a new atti- ing scrap. For integrated mills, he was disap- 2004-06 average. tude to working practices in which each person pointed that the closure of the blast furnaces at was passionate about the product and their role Florange in France which had been chosen to Plant Number Capacity in making it. Those who had previously worked host the demonstration of top gas recycling at the plant were made to look at poor past prac- (TGR) has prevented a promising technology BOF 3 9.0 tices which had developed such as cleanliness of being trialed. This would reduce CO2 emissions EAF 24 34 the work place with the aim of instilling a pride at the hot band stage by 15% if no carbon stor- Flat Prod 4 12 into their work area and to keep it clean and tidy age or 60% with carbon storage (see STI April Long Prod 26 31 and so create a safe and efficient environment. 2013 vol 37 No 3 pp26-29). 2.5Mt of steel were produced in the first Session 2 looked at world economic develop- Table 1 Steelmaking capacity in Turkey in year and output is planned to eventually ment. Ersun Ozdemirel, Export Manager of the 2012 (Mt) increase to over 4Mt/y. Pulverised coal injec- Turkish steelmaker Borcelik, a privately owned tion (PCI) is being installed this year to reduce flats steel roller (with a holding by Capacity utilisation and margins are strongly coke consumption. ArcelorMittal) making 1.5Mt/y of hot dipped correlated. The current capacity might be filled Phil Dryden – a chemical engineer who had (900kt) and cold rolled (600kt) strip located by 2020 and the question will be: Is your bal- previously worked for Corus – taking over near the port of Gemlik, first reviewed the ance sheet strong enough to survive a further operations at Port Talbot soon after they had Turkish steel industry. In 2012, the country seven years of famine? experienced a major accident in one of the two made 36Mt crude steel of which 27Mt (75%) Jing Zhang, Senior Analyst with Platts blast furnaces there, stressed there was a need were long products and 9Mt flats. Steel con- addressed China’s domestic market and its over for a change in operating attitude – people sumption in Turkey was 29Mt, 15Mt was capacity. must adapt to changing circumstances for a exported (13Mt as longs) and 8Mt was import- In 2012, China produced 716.5Mt of crude company to remain viable he said. ed – mainly as flats (7Mt). EAF steel accounted steel – 46% of world production. Output has He is confident that there is still a major role for 74% of production in 2012. This required been soaring since the beginning of this year for the steel industry in Europe. the import of 22.4Mt of scrap, while growing, there and could stay at a high level. Dr Günter Luxenburger, Director Sales & domestic supplies account for 25-30% of scrap Despite very low or negative profits, Chinese Marketing Member of the Board Dillinger requirements. In 2012, just over half of import- steel mills have always been resistant to produc- Hütte/GTS a producer of large diameter line ed scrap (11.5Mt) came from the EU, 6.3Mt tion cuts due to overcapacity, unless the govern- pipe is part of a joint German/French group from USA, 2.9Mt from CIS and 1.8Mt from ment seriously mandates a reduction or mills’ owned by a consortium of Saarstahl (33.75%), other countries. losses have grown too much to continue pro- ArcelorMittal (30.08%) and SHS-Stahl- Mr Ozdemirel listed Turkey’s strengths in duction. Falling raw material prices have pro- Holding-Saar (26.17%). He spoke on the expe- terms of its steel industry as: vided steel mills with breathing space to contin- riences of Dillinger and GTS. Both operate Ɂ Strong and growing domestic demand; ue production, precluding the possibility of any heavy plate mills (up to 260mm thick), Ɂ Location: close to EU, Middle East, CIS and large output cuts. Recent environmental checks Dillingen with a capacity of 1600kt/y and GTS Northern Africa; in Tangshan province failed to shut down pol- 700kt/y. A new continuous caster for heavy slab Ɂ High capacity utilisation; luting works. is under construction. Ingot casting is also used Ɂ Private mills provide quick decision making During 2013, 17 new blast furnaces are due for heavy section plate production. and short implementation time; and to be commissioned adding 33.8Mt of pig iron Dr Luxenburger said that generally the Ɂ Aggressive pricing (in line with raw material capacity of which 23.6Mt (70%) will be in west- demand for plate remains good, in particular costs). ern China. This will take China’s capacity in because of wind farm projects which use plate crude steel to 950Mt providing a utilisation rate for the pylons, but prices remain suppressed. Its challenges were: of 79.0%, 0.6% down on the 2012 figure. Because of the high volatility of raw material Ɂ Dependent on raw material imports; China’s serious overcapacity is therefore prices there is a huge risk for the steelmaker if Ɂ Low profit margin (due to high input costs); unlikely to ease in 2013. Any demand recovery selling at a fixed price as negotiations are Ɂ Not as efficient as EU mills, especially or price rebound during the rest of this year agreed with the input costs unknown. regarding quality and customer claim issues; could easily trigger a production jump, which in In Germany, the cost of power rose sharply at Ɂ Poor use of financial instruments to hedge turn would hamper steel price increases and the beginning of the year to €0.053/kWh a 47%

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increase on 2012 but a massive 1225% increase Mr Hagenbruch said the steel industry was the new iron ore ‘bonanza’ have faltered due to in the past 10 years. This is largely due to responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions if massive infrastructure needs to get the ore to renewable energy tariffs. indirect emissions are included (Fig 3). Half ports. In 2013, the Africa Mineral Development On CO2 emissions, Dr Luxenburger said the the CO2 abatement costs available are a nega- Centre (AMDC) was established by the UN use of innovative steels such as high strength tive cost and include top gas recovery turbines, Economic Commission for Africa to initiate thinner gauge for automotive bodies provide a the increase use of pellets and dry coke quench- further mineral exploration on the continent six-fold reduction in emissions compared with ing. The remainder will cost the steelmaker and and ensure a fair share of revenue is awarded to the emissions produced in making these steels. include CCS, process change and further a country if deposits are developed. Luc Bongaerts of OM Partners (OMP) listed improvement in energy efficiency, this being the Shipping bulk dry cargoes was the topic of the challenges to steel as expensive raw materi- most costly. Derek Langston of SSY consultant group. als with volatile prices, lack of flexibility in large In examples, Mr Hagenbruch said a steel Freight prices have dropped dramatically since units to meet changes in demand, a complex plant in USA achieved a 6% energy use reduc- the high of mid-2008 when spot prices reached flow pattern and a lack of accurate forecasting. tion at no capital cost and a further 5% with $100/t for shipments from Brazil to China and His company provides a software tool to limited capex expenditure. Payback took below $40/t from Western Australia to China. They are manage strategic planning, tactical decisions two years and full implementation by the sup- now at $19/t and $9/t respectively as surplus ship and operations to match manufacturing with plier of 18 months. capacity has grown following new builds being supply and demand as well as distribution of Peter Norfolk of brokers Freight Investment placed on the strength of the high rates in 2008, the final product. Services (FIS) concluded the Day 1 presenta- as well as a drop in demand for ore. Elena Dimitrova of Ukraine’s Metinvest tions looking at price risk management. The These depressed freight rates have triggered spoke on their strategy in Europe. Metinvest volume of steel derivatives traded is increasing supply-side responses − slower steaming, record produced 12.5Mt crude steel in 2012 (28th with 7.2bnt traded on the Shanghai Futures scrapping and reduced new build order book. largest in the world) and has 25 steel and min- market in 2012, for example, up 60% on the Port congestion remains a feature of the iron ing assets spread between Ukraine, Europe and 4.5bnt in 2010. The global total traded on vari- ore trades and potential source for future USA. 12% of its steel is made in Europe. Of ous futures and derivative markets in 2013 is volatility. total output, 32% is flats, 29% longs, 18% semis, expected to reach over 10bnt, 6.25 times the Questioned as to whether new legislation 17% pig iron and 4% pipe. Exports account for expected physical production of 1.6bnt. banning the use of heavy fuel oil in European 47% of output, and of this 26% goes to Europe. Chinese players account for 35% of iron ore waters will increase freight costs, Mr Langston Flat products account for 69% of sales to swaps (a cash flow derivative exchanged seemed unaware of the impending legislation Europe and longs 12%. Italy is the largest desti- nation for European sales at 45%, the next largest destination is Romania taking 10%. Global CO2 emissions Steel CO2 emissions 100% = 49.4 GtCO e per year It is self-sufficient in raw materials which pro- 2 100% = 4.0 GtCO2e per year vides a competitive edge to sales. Session 4 looked at steel pricing. Steven Ferro-alloys2 Agriculture Randall, MD of The Steel Index (TSI) said TSI Power 1 Mining 4 provides spot prices for raw materials which are used for most ‘over the counter’ (OTC) settle- 13.3 24.4 17 ments for iron ore, European hot rolled coil 0.7 Steel (Power) (HRC) and scrap import swaps and options to Forestry 15.0 Turkey. In addition it provides prices on other 5.6 Steel (Direct) Power 9 1.7 steel ‘commodity’ products. Steel (mining1 and 2.9 2 Mr Randall summarised how iron ore pricing Waste 5.5 ferro-alloys ) Petroleum and gas 70 has changed since 2008 from being fixed on an 6.8 5.0 Building 12.1 3.0 3.9 Cement Direct annual basis to a quarterly basis (lagging one Chemicals month) in Q2 2010 to a quarterly current Other industry Transport Direct emissions month basis in Q1 2013. Indirect emissions The steel market in Europe was also edging

towards index-linked pricing to take account of 1 Includes mining and beneficiation of iron ore, coal, limestone, and ferro-alloy ores the volatility of the raw materials market. 2 Production of Ni, FeCr, FeSi, FeMn, SiMn and Al consumed during steel production Currently accounting for just 10% of steel sales, it is expected to increase to 40% as is the cur- Fig 3 The steel industry is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions if indirect emissions rent situation in USA. are included Source: T Hagenbruch McKinsey & Co Iron ore has been the leading commodity sold on a global futures/derivatives market and between parties) compared to just 5% a year but a comment from the audience confirmed was introduced four years ago. Steel has a more ago. Producers are increasing looking at ways to that it was a concern for shipping ore from regional market and contracts exist for only a manage risk. 70-80% of ore prices are now Nordic ports. limited selection of products. index linked. The session concluded with a paper from Derivatives are also available for scrap for Using the example of an EAF mill producing Paul Bartholomew, Managing Editor Australia deliver to Turkey and to the USA (as bushelings). 2.5Mt/y, buying 2.8Mt/y of scrap, Mr Norfolk Platts who estimates world ore trade to reach Coking coal FOB Australia were launched in said there was a price risk of $582M a year 1176Mt in 2013 up 4.7% on 1123Mt in 2012 a 2011 but have seen little trading to date. should scrap prices fluctuated between a low of slight improvement in growth on the 3.0% Toralf Hagenbruch of McKinsey & Co deliv- $302/t to a high of $510/t. Swaps were the increase between 2011-12. ered a paper on behalf of his colleague, Michel means to remove such risk. Expansion plans in Australia will add 30% to van Hoey on price volatility including CO2 Day 2 consisted of two morning sessions, the output by 2013-14. trading permits. With the exception of energy first an overview of raw material markets and The ‘big three’ mining groups Vale, Rio Tinto prices in the 1970s, volatility is at an all-time the second on end-user steel demand. and BHP Billiton are recovering market share high. The raw materials ‘basket’ price peaked in Magnus Ericson, co-founder of Raw of supply after falling to 57% from 75% as new 2008 and again in 2011 at around $600/t both Materials Group looked at the various iron ore entries were established attracted by the high times. It had fallen to a low of $210/t in early projects around the world listing a number that prices paid for ore. Table 2 summarises expan- 2009 before recovering to the high in 2011. By have been delayed as demand has dropped. He sion plans for the ‘big three’. March 2013 it was around $400/t having shown concluded that while demand drivers remain in Nearly all of these expansions are destined a small recovery from $375 at the close of 2012. place the supply constraints were increasing. for China. Carbon prices have fallen due to excess allo- China has slowed its overseas expansion and in Although it is very tough for new entrants, cation of free permits as a result of slowing Europe small newcomers are emerging in min- higher cost producers (and expensive Chinese demand for steel. They are presently at a low of ing. Elsewhere, there is increasing political output!) iron ore mining is still a very good around €4/t having traded at €37/t soon after interest/actions. Prices will fall but remain on a game to be into for lower-cost producers, but being launched in 2005. high level. development of new regions and big new proj- Continuing on the theme of CO2 emissions, Projects in West Africa previously hailed as ects are likely to be very slow.

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Company End-2012 End-2015 End-2018 In the automotive sector flat products account for about 66% of demand with longs Vale (Brazil) 320 371 458 supplying 34%. For construction, the reverse is Rio Tinto (UK/Australia) 253 353 406 the case and also requires about 5% tubes. BHP Billiton (Australia) 187 246 316 A current survey by REAL of steel managers Total 761 970 1180 reveals that in terms of ranking concerns, Cumulative Increase − 209 419 capacity utilisation is the top concern of 50% of respondents, followed by China (33%), Raw Table 2 Iron ore production plans by the ‘big three’ materials (8%) and other topics (8%). In 2012, over 60 million cars were made worldwide, a On coking coal, no new projects are likely in Country 2012 2013(f) 2014(f) CAGR of 3% since 1960. About 66 million are Australia as the cost is too high, although expected to be made in 2013. Car ownership Australia will remain the dominant producer by Australia 143 143 166 will continue to rise – strongly in many parts of far (Table 3) USA 65 65 58 the world. By 2035, 1 in 5 people will own a car. The final session on end-used demand saw Canada 28 27 31 By 2035, there will be almost 1.8 billion cars in two papers. Nikolaj Ager Hamann, Business Mongolia 21 21 41 use worldwide, almost twice that of today. Analyst Procurement Sourcing, Dong Energy, a Other 53 58 72 By 2020, less than half the weight of a Danish based company specialising in the man- World Total 310 314 368 European car will be steel or cast iron, com- ufacture of offshore wind turbine towers with (f) Forecast pared with 80% in 2000. However, steel or cast over 1.7GW of generating capacity installed in iron will account for 600kg of the total and of 2012 with plans to achieve 6.5GW by 2020. Table 3 Coking coal export supply (Mt) this over 40% will be high strength steels. The steel requirement for the Anholt 400MW Electric vehicles provide an additional mar- wind farm under construction off the Danish to 1.3Mt in 2023. The current demand is 0.5Mt. ket – for electrical steels as well as for light NE coast is 73.7kt using 111 monopile pylons in The cost of generating power by offshore wind weighting by using thinner gauge high and 14m of water. Of this, 49.5kt are required for is well into the higher part of the cost curve aver- ultra-high strength steels. foundations and 22.2kt for the towers plus 2kt aging $210/kWh compared with $75/kWh for a For construction steels in Europe, the overall for sub stations. For the foundations, half the thermal CHP plant, $80/kWh for a convention- message is that there are still plenty of opportu- cost is for the steel and half for fabrication of it al coal plant, $80/kWh for an on-shore wind nities for those prepared to take a long-term into large diameter cylinders. For deeper water, farm and $1058 for a wave power generator. view and address individual market needs. jacket (lattice steelwork) foundations are pre- The final paper presented by Roger Emmott The market is not going to grow strongly but ferred to monopiles. The latest generation of of Roger Emmott Associates addressed the auto- it will recover over time. UK and Sweden have monopiles require large 3.9m wide plate 110mm motive and construction sectors. The automotive favourable demographics. Germany, Spain, thick to produce a pile diameter of 7.5m and sector requires the greatest amount of ‘value UK, France and Italy remain in the top 15 con- 23.6m high. The total weight of plate per pile is added’ steels while the construction sector struction markets by 2020 (measured in value 32t. On average each MW of power produced accounts for the greatest volume used. terms – not by steel penetration). The other 22 requires 181t of steel. The oil and gas sector is recovering at the EU countries are not large on the world stage Estimated orders of steel for offshore wind in fastest rate while construction is the slowest to but all have their own opportunities and the European waters will exceed 1Mt in 2017 rising improve. smaller countries are likely to grow strongly.

39 ៊ Eurocoke Summit 2013

imported coking coal which is costly and of Table 4 Typical Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Platts met coke concern to the government. Chinese coke grades India’s steel industry has partly tackled the CSR (%) 62 >50 <50 62 lack of coke by making India the top producer Ash (ad) <12 <13.5 <15 12.5 of DRI, but over half of this is produced in coal Sulphur (%) <0.6 <0.8 <1.0 0.6 based kilns and melted in induction furnaces Micum 40 (%) >80 >76 >72 * 82 along with scrap to produce uncertified rebar Micum 10 (%) <7 <8.5 <10.5 ) 8 products. Reducing the coke rate in blast fur- CRI (%) <30 <35 – 25 naces is practiced by employing coal injection Source: Platts but the high alumina content of the domestic ore and high ash content of the coke mean larg- sure of many of the merchant coke producers in been stronger than coke, the reverse of the sit- er quantities of slag are produced thus requir- the future but also delay or cause the abandon- uation between November to December 2012. ing the greater use of coke. (SAIL, for example ment of coke projects within integrated works. A better correlation is seen between the price of reports an average coke rate of 512kg/tHM in The situation in China was presented by coke and hot rolled coil. FY 2012/13, although a steady improvement Edwin Yeo, the market editor for Platts. China Coke futures have been traded on the Dalian has been evident since 2010/11). has the world’s largest coke making capacity futures market since April 2011 and in March Alternative ironmaking methods including estimated at 420 – 440Mt/y. Since the lifting of this year coking coal futures have also been Corex are already in use at two locations in the 40% export tax in January 2013 Chinese traded. Coke is traded in lots of 100 metric India and consideration is being given to Finex, coke imports to Europe could affect the market tonnes at a specific grade of CSR * 62%, ash ITMk3 and HIsmelt. But since the industry is there. Already Chinese coke is quoted on the ) 12.5%, Micum 40 * 82%, Micum 10 ) 7.5%. deregulated, and the government is gradually spot market in Europe. The paper market is 7.5 times the physical spot divesting itself of state owned SAIL, these gen- Merchant coke producers account for 62% of trade following a 20 fold increase in trading erally capacity limited technologies can only be output and steel mills 38%. Prices vary by during 2012 when 65 million lots were traded proposed and not enforced for private invest- region and quality issues can occur (Table 4). equating to 3.25bnt. Industrial players, howev- ment. The spot price of coke has declined steadily er, accounted for only about 10-20% of the India’s coke making is largely captive to inte- from over $370/t in April 2012 to around trade. The growth in met coke trade is seen as grated plants but about 6.5Mt/y is presently $280/t in April 2013. This is due to slow an indicator for met coal and steel indicating produced by about 100 merchant coke produc- demand from India and competitively priced more speculative participation than hedging. ers. Indeed, the export of merchant coke made Chinese coke entering the market. Because of the large volume of coke pro- India a net exporter of coke in 2010, but it is There is a strong correlation between the duced in China just a 1% increase in exports again a net importer in 2013. price of coke and coking coal, but less so for would cause over-supply in the Asian seaborne Environmental constraints may force the clo- coke and iron ore. Since March, ore prices have market.

Diary Date: World Coke Summit 4-6 November 2013 Pittsburgh, PA, USA www.smithers.com

www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International – July/August 2013 – 43 HISTORY july aug_Layout 1 7/11/13 8:15 AM Page 1

Minimising sulphur content is the key to obtaining a mirror finish to bright annealed and History polished stainless steel. Anish Kapoor’s ‘C-Curve’ on temporary location on the South Downs above Brighton, England in 2009

However, he struggled to win the support of his employers. In 1915 he applied for a US patent only to find that Elwood Haynes (1857-1925) an automotive engineer of Haynes Stellite Company in Kokomo, Indiana had already reg- istered a patent. Both men then pooled their funding and with a group of investors formed the American Stainless Steel Corporation, with headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nickel in stainless steel At the same time as Brearley started working on Cr additions in 1912, Benno Strauss (1873- 1944) and his co-worker Eduard Maurer (1886-1969) at the Krupp Works in Essen, Germany, discovered that some iron-chromium alloys with about 8% nickel and 18% chromium were impervious to attack after months of exposure to acid fumes in their laboratory. This established the commercial usefulness of the chromium-nickel stainless steels, known as austenitic stainless steels as the nickel stabilises One hundred years the normally high temperature austenitic face- centred-cubic (fcc) structure of iron at room temperature and below. These austenitic steels of stainless steel have now become the most widely used of all of the classes of stainless steels, as not only are By Fathi Habashi* they highly resistant to corrosion but the fcc structure makes these grades when rolled into sheet more easily pressed into complex shapes, COMMERCIAL production of stainless steel is ed to create such low-carbon chromium steel and also resists embrittlement of the steel at one hundred years old this year. The exact year but none succeeded. It was only in the late cryogenic temperatures. In contrast, stainless of the anniversary of its discovery cannot be 1890s that Hans Goldschmidt (1861-1923) in steels containing only Cr have a ferritic body- well established because many researchers Germany developed an aluminothermic centred-cubic (bcc) structure, are less corrosion reported on the production of alloy steels that process for producing carbon-free chromium. resistant, less formable and become brittle at resisted attack by acids but stainless steel was Between 1904 and 1911 several French met- low temperatures. However, the absence of Ni not truly defined until 1912. Harold Cobb allurgists intensified studies on chromium - iron renders them cheaper to produce. (1934-2010) in his comprehensive book on the alloys. For example, Leon Guillet (1873–1946) It was recognised that chromium steel resis- history of stainless steel credited the British Professor of Metallurgy at the Conservatoire ted corrosion because a thin protective layer of metallurgist Harry Brearley (1871-1948) above des Arts et Métiers in Paris prepared alloys that chromium oxide, Cr2O3, was formed on the all others as the initiator of the industrial era of would today be considered stainless steel. surface when the steel was exposed to oxygen. stainless steel in 1913. Albert Portevin (1886-1962) Professor of The layer is too thin to be visible and is imper- The deliberate addition of certain elements Metallurgy at Ecole Centrale in Paris noticed vious to water and air thus protecting the metal to steel to obtain enhanced properties began in that chromium steels with chromium contents beneath which remained lustrous. 1819 when Michael Faraday (1791-1867) inves- greater than 10% were resistant to attack by tigated the properties of alloys of iron with a common reagents. Applications large number of other elements including nick- These acid-resistant steels, dubbed ‘Stainless The resistance of stainless steel to corrosion el. He was inspired by the fact that ‘iron’ mete- Steels’ started to be developed in other coun- and staining, its low maintenance and its famil- orites, which do not rust, contained about 8% tries. In England, in 1912, Harry Brearley iar lustre immediately made it an ideal material Ni. He did not, however, pursue the matter, (1871-1948) of the Brown Firth Research for many applications. It is used in cookware, being occupied by his research in electromag- Laboratory in Sheffield was given the task by a cutlery, household hardware, surgical instru- netic induction. He left records of his work and small arms manufacturer to find a steel that ments, major appliances, industrial equipment a large number of specimens which were would prolong the life of its gun barrels which (for example, in sugar refineries) and as an analysed in 1931 by Robert Hadfield, who were wearing away too quickly by mechanical automotive and aerospace structural alloy and pointed out that had Faraday continued his wear from the bullet and chemical attack from construction material in large buildings. Storage investigation, the age of alloy steels would prob- the charge. tanks and tankers used to transport orange ably have started 50 years earlier. Brearley set out to create an erosion resistant juice and other foods are often made of stain- steel and began experimenting with steel alloys less steel, because of its corrosion resistance Chromium: the key element containing chromium. During these experi- and antibacterial properties. Stainless steel is Chromium was discovered in 1797 by the ments he made several variations of his Cr com- used for jewellery and watches. French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin positions, ranging from 6% to 15% and with The aesthetic appeal is often used by arche- (1763–1829) who also isolated the metal a year various quantities of carbon. It was necessary tects and artists to produce striking creations in ᔢ later by reducing chromium oxide, Cr2O3, with for Brearley to etch the samples with nitric acid public spaces as the illustration shows. carbon. The French metallurgist Pierre Berthier to examine the structures under a microscope. (1782-1861) attempted in 1821 to find uses for Brearley found that these Cr containing alloys Suggested readings this new metal by preparing some iron-chromi- resisted the chemical etch and proceeded to H Cobb, History of Stainless Steel, ASM International, um alloys. He noted their resistance against test the sample with other agents, including Materials Park, Ohio 2010. attack by some acids and suggested their use in lemon juice and vinegar. He was astounded to J H G, Monypenny, Stainless Iron and Steel, Chapman & cutlery, but when he prepared high chromium find that his alloys were highly resistant to such Hall, Ltd, London 1926 alloys he found that they were too brittle to be reagents, and immediately recognised the E E Thum, The Book of Stainless Steels, American Society of practical use. In 1875, Henri Aimé Brustlein potential for this steel within the cutlery indus- for Metals, Cleveland, Ohio, 1935. (1833-1912) another French metallurgist work- try, a speciality of Sheffield’s steelmakers. C A Zapffe, Stainless Steels, American Society for Metals, ing at the steel works Holtzer in Saint-Étienne In 1913 Brearley created a steel with 12.8% Cleveland, Ohio, 1949. pointed out that in order to create a high chromium and 0.24% carbon, argued to be the C A Zapffe, The Fascinating History of Stainless Steel The chromium alloy the carbon content must first ever stainless steel, the composition today Miracle Metal, Republic Steel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, remain below 0.15%. Many scientists attempt- being termed a martensitic stainless steel. 1960.

*Laval Université, Quebec City, Canada [email protected]

44 – July/August 2013 – Steel Times International www.steeltimesint.com