China's leading steelmaker Shagang enlists 'ultra' production line

BEIJING -- Shagang Group Ltd, China's largest private metallurgical enterprise, has formally launched the country's first ultra-thin strip production line to make products greener and more competitive.

By cooperating with American steel giant Nucor Corporation, the Jiangsu-based company has adopted advanced double-roll strip casting and rolling technology in the production line, which can directly produce 0.7 to 1.9 mm thin and hot coil plate from liquid steel without continuous casting, heating and rolling processes.

"The working process is like the dough pressing machine we use in our daily life, and we turn the flour directly into dough," said Shi Yixin, general manager of Shagang Group.

This ultra-thin strip line is 50 meters long, 16 times shorter than conventional lines, consumes four-fifths of the energy, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by three-quarters, Shi said.

Products in fields of shelves, automobiles and agricultural machinery have already been developed, and Shagang aims to use the line to produce high-quality magnetic steel and silicon steel to set foot in new energy electric vehicles in the coming years, the company said.