Commercial Operations: New Equipments for Duplex Stainless Steel Quarto Plates in Use

NSSC (Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation; Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Hiroshi Kinoshita) announced today that they have completed an investment for boosting the duplex stainless steel production capability of their Yawata Works (Plate Mill) and have now put this capability into commercial operations.

Outline of Investment

1. Main equipments: New pickling facility and new cold-plate leveler
2. Effects:
   1) Production capability of duplex stainless steel quarto plate is expanded to 3,000t/month  from the previous 1,000 t/month.
   2) The manufacture of four-meters duplex stainless plates, the widest products in the world, is now possible.
3. Investment amount: Six billion yen.
4. Actual construction period: 20 months (as initially planned).

Combined with the previously executed expansion of grades, NSSC has now prepared a full-scale mass production system that can appropriately respond to market needs regarding duplex quarto plates, of which demand has expanded in terms of use in seawater desalination units, chemical tankers and pulp & paper/petrochemical plants, and in which applications have been broadened in the fields of the environment and building.

Types of Steel Grades Available

Note: Underlined grades refer to those of which commercialization was announced in December 2009.

Based on above mentioned developments, NSSC is planning to further boost marketing for solutions, such as VA proposals, that fit individual customer needs in Japan and overseas. More information is available at Duplex page in NSSC website http://www.ns-sc.co.jp/duplex and customers can communicate with us through duplex@ns-sc.co.jp

(Photo: new cold-plate leveler)