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World average carbon steel prices - latest forcast

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:48:53 +0200

The global all products composite selling figure increased by over $US 10 per tonne in August. However, this rise was due to ...

Stainless steel prices to dip in final quater before recovering in 2011

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:31:10 +0200

World stainless steel transaction prices have followed a general upward trend over the past twelve months. Stronger economic conditions, coupled with various government stimulus projects, boosted ...

Corus Teesside to be relocated to Sahaviriya, Thailand?

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:42:19 +0200

After months of negotiations, Corus has finally agreed to sell the mothballed steel unit at Teesside, UK to Thailand’s Sahaviriya Steel Industries for about $500 million.

Duisburg-Bruckhausen meltshop of ThyssenKrupp, Germany, produces 150 millionth ton of steel

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:51:28 +0200

The workforce at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe's BOF meltshop in Duisburg-Bruckhausen; Germany, had special cause to celebrate: On August 25 at 11.51 o'clock they produced the 150 millionth metric ton of crude steel.

Worldwide unique belt caster for Salzgitter, Germany

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:56:51 +0200

Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH has ordered a near-net-shape caster for Peine, Germany. A fundamentally different and worldwide unique casting concept will thus be implemented for the first time on an industrial scale and enable the casting of new high-strength steels.

North European steel prices driven mainly by raw materials costs

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:30:28 +0200

Consumption of hot rolled coil has remained weak in Northern Europe during the past 12 months. However, state-backed infrastructure projects have ...

EU mill profit margins to remain low in the short term

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:24:09 +0200

The conversion margin between raw material expenditure and steel prices climbed steadily during 2009 from the low point early in that year. However, despite ...

Gerdau Açominas, Brazil, invests in new plate and Steckel mills

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:13:49 +0200

Gerdau Açominas, a company in the Gerdau Group, has ordered a plate mill and a Steckel mill. The two rolling mills will be constructed at Ouro Branco in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A second strand will also be added to their existing continuous slab caster that initiated its production one year ago.

Steel price volatility to remain in the short term

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:20:58 +0200

Over the past twelve months, steel prices have remained volatile as instability in the world financial system negatively affected market sentiment. Selling figures ...

Seasonal demand and price volatility have taken hold in the Developing Markets

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:13:59 +0200

In the Russian Federation, domestic metallurgical plants have continued to operate at reduced capacity. Shipments to the construction and heavy manufacturing sectors have ...

New air separating unit for ArcelorMittal Gent, Belgium

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:41:54 +0200

ArcelorMittal Belgium N.V. -originally named Sidmar-, signed a long term contract for the supply of it's Ghent steel plant -originally named Sidmar-, with oxygen, nitrogen and argon.

Water treatment plant for new steelworks in Slovakia

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:26:17 +0200

Slovakia Steel Mills, a.s (SSM) in Strážské, Slovakia, ordered a water treatment plant for its new steelworks. The plant will treat the water used for direct and indirect cooling.

Global crude steel production to exeed 1.6 billion tonnes in 2014

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:46:15 +0200

Despite the difficulties brought about by the economic crisis which commenced in late 2008 and extended throughout much of last year, global iron and steel production will be at "all-time" high tonnages in 2010. Global output of raw steel is forecast to reach ...

July 2010 crude steel production

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:47:44 +0200

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 115 million metric tons (mmt) in July. This is 9.6% higher than July 2009.

New blast furnace for ArcelorMittal Monlevade, Brazil

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:27:53 +0200

A new blast furnace, which will become the “B” furnace, will form the hot metal base of ArcelorMittal’s capacity expansion at their Monlevade plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Brief history of controlling cooling rate in cast steel

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 10:53:26 +0200

Steel history and its chronological progress have been reviewed from different aspects on many published papers, and books and it can be found on many websites. However, one historical aspect of this topic, which has received limited attention, is the gradual progress in knowledge of controlling cooling rate to get the desirable thermal and mechanical properties for the steel products. This paper presents some evidence of understanding the effect of cooling rate on the material properties from Iron Age era. It also discusses briefly the importance of determining optimimum cooling rate in enhancing the production rate.

World's largest vacuum decarburization plant for Tisco, China

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:13:25 +0200

Taiyuan Iron & Steel Co. (Tisco) steel works will be building a new vacuum decarburization plant directly alongside ladle furnace no 2. The plant will be designed as a double system with a capacity ...

Low-cost steel from Indonesia

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:04:50 +0200

Korean steel maker POSCO enters the Indonesian steel industry in a joint venture with Krakatau Steel by initiating the construction of the first integrated steel mill in Indonesia.

EU average carbon steel prices - latest forecasts

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:20:54 +0200

A drop of over EUR 40 per tonne was recorded in the EU average "all products" composite selling figure in July. The mill's attempts to raise transaction numbers for flat categories in the third quarter were ...

Annealing and pickling line for Fuxin Special Steel, China

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:43:25 +0200

Fujian Fuxin Special Steel Co. Ltd. placed an order to supply major components and systems for a new stainless steel plant in Fujian Province, China.

Evraz orders PCI technology for its Russian blast furnace plants

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:36 +0200

The Evraz Group ordered coal grinding, drying and injection plants for the blast furnaces located at Evraz’ Nizhnij Tagil, Urals, and Novokuznetsk, West Siberia, works.

Problems for producers in the developing markets

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:31:04 +0200

In the Russian Federation, domestic metallurgical producers have been confronted with difficult decisions, such as how to deal with the inflow of low-cost Ukrainian imports and the problem of raw materials costs remaining at high levels. The latter is hindering the ability of ...

Xuanhua, China, orders 3-roll reducing and sizing block

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:14:11 +0200

Xuanhua Iron & Steel, a division of the state-owned Hebei Iron & Steel Group, placed an order for the supply of a 3-roll reducing and sizing block.

North-American steel price drops 4% in July

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:19:07 +0200

Flat product transaction values in the US continued their sharp decline in July. This has taken place against the backdrop of rising ...

More stainless steel output cuts required to support prices

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:55:48 +0200

Most regions have recorded a moderate, though gradual, economic recovery since the darkest days of the so-called Global Financial Crisis. However, there has been no significant upturn in the demand for stainless steel, especially in the West. Producers all over the world are now having to ...

V&M Star orders pipe heat treating furnaces

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:21:01 +0200

Design and supply of two pipe heat treating furnaces has been ordered by V&M Star’s Youngstown, Ohio, USA.

Korean special steel producer to modernize long-product rolling mill

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:37:00 +0200

Posco Specialty Steel Co. Ltd., a Korean special steel producer, is to modernize the long-product rolling mill in its Changwon Works.

Steel prices tumble around the world in July

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:22:40 +0200

The Global Steel Price has fallen in July for the second consecutive month. Market demand is likely to be flat in the third quarter. The threat of higher iron ore costs, in the July to September period, prompted steel buyers to ...

New S-6-high process boosts productivity

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:56:35 +0200

Innovation provides an edge: New S-6-high process boosts productivity at ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni, Italy.

Double strand wire rod mill for Xuanhua, China

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:57:21 +0200

Xuanhua Iron & Steel (Group) Co., China, a subsidiary company of the Hebei Iron & Steel Group, has ordered a double strand wire rod mill.

Record high levels of iron and steel production forecast for 2010 and 2011

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:41:27 +0200

World steel output is predicted to reach 1395 million tonnes in 2010 - up by 14 percent on the year earlier figure. A further expansion ...

China goes quality

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:05:31 +0200

„It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.“
attributed to John Ruskin as Common Law of Business Balance

June 2010 crude steel production

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:09:23 +0200

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 119 million tons (mmt) in June. This is 18% higher than June 2009.

Planning module for Russian steel producer OMK

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:25:58 +0200

The Russian OMK group is to install a new Planning solution PSImetals Planning for the new heavy plate rolling mill at the Vyksa site.

Nordic steel prices stronger than rest of Europe

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:31:50 +0200

Flat products prices in most of Europe have slipped slightly from a peak in June, although third quarter contract values in Scandinavia are ...

Saarschmiede, Germany, inaugurates open-die forging press

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:06:23 +0200

Saarschmiede GmbH, Völklingen, Germany, has commissioned the 120-MN open-die forging press with 12,000 t press force, supplied by SMS Meer, Germany.

ThyssenKrupp CSA put in operation Blast Furnace No. 1 at Santa Cruz, RJ, Brazil

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:34:24 +0200

ThyssenKrupp CSA Siderúrgica do Atlântico have successfully put in operation the first of the two new blast furnaces which belong to the company’s new slab plant at Santa Cruz, close to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Hadeed, Saudi Arabia, modernizes electric arc furnace

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:54:05 +0200

The Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed) is to modernize an electric arc furnace. for The plant will be equipped with a new hydraulic syste which will improve the efficiency, availability and productivity of the furnace.

Outokumpu Oy, Finland, modernizes electric arc furnace

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:49:34 +0200

Outokumpu Oy, a Finnish steel producer, is to modernize an electric arc furnace. The plant will be equipped with a new hydraulic system which will improve the efficiency, availability and productivity of the furnaces.

China Steel; Taiwan, orders sixth RH plant in a row

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:53:45 +0200

China Steel Corporation located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, has ordered
the sixth RH plant.

EU steel prices decline despite higher raw material costs

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:26:52 +0200

So far, there has been a dearth of third quarter orders for the European flat product producers. Customers are staying out of the market for as long as possible, citing poor demand and the approach of the summer holiday period for the lack of buying activity. The mills have ...

Brief results on developing a new manufacturing process for grain-oriented silicon-alloyed steel sheets

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:18:26 +0200

The purpose of this paper is to present some important parameters and new results, which control various stages of the manufacturing process to obtain new grain-oriented silicon-alloyed steel sheets. A 3-stage cold rolling method is employed for production. The results can be used to further reduce core losses of current silicon-alloyed steel sheets by stronger reduction of their thicknesses, or increasing the silicon content of conventional grain-oriented silicon-alloyed steel sheets without problems in the cold rolling stages.

Principles of pressurised-electroslag-remelting (P-ESR) and hot forming of high-nitrogen steels

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:24:39 +0200

High nitrogen steels are commonly known for their excellent mechanical properties, i.e. strength and corrosion resistance.
A state-of-the-art production routine is P-ESR melting (pressurised electro slag remelting). It is possible to manufacture both, austenitic as well as martensitic steels suitable for forging and hot rolling. Some basic knowledge of the material peculiarities is mandatory to avoid any potential issues during plastic deformation.
The following paper provides an overview of the manufacturing of HNS as well as some properties to be considered for plastic deformation.

Kaohsiung China Steel Corporation, Taiwan, starts walking beam furnace

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:01:08 +0200

Kaohsiung China Steel Corporation, Taiwan, has completed the start-up of a 200 t/h walking beam reheating furnace for billets ...

World Steel in Figures 2010 available

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:34:25 +0200

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has published the 2010 edition of World Steel in Figures.

Salzgitter Flachstahl commissions slab caster

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:00:43 +0200

The fourth continuous slab caster for Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH (SZFG), Germany, is commissioned.

Rebound manufacturing sector good news for EU steel market

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:39:12 +0200

The EU steel market gained traction in recent months. Since the 2nd quarter of this year, activity in most steel using sectors is bouncing back ...

Kazchrome, Kazakhstan, tu build a new ferrochrome works

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:11:29 +0200

TNK Kazchrome JSC, Kazakhstan, is to build a new ferrochrome works in that country. The works (Meltshop No. 4) will be erected at the Aktobe location. The planned annual production is ...

North American averae stainless steel prices - latest forecasts

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:16:45 +0200

As predicted, North American stainless steel transaction values moved up considerably in early June. These rises were due to hikes in alloy surcharges of ...

North American average steeel price drops 6.7 % in June

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:04:33 +0200

US mill order books are soft and delivery lead times have fallen to four weeks. Demand is slowly reducing, which is to be expected at this time of the year. Transaction prices have dipped in response to ...