Top 10 News of China's Stainless Steel Industry in 2024

After online public voting, the results of the selection of the top 10 news of China's stainless steel industry in 2024 are as follows:

1. The world's widest and largest unit weight lanthanum-containing iron-chromium-aluminum products were launched in TISCO

In January 2024, TISCO produced the world's largest lanthanum-containing iron-chromium-aluminum sheet with the largest width and roll weight in the world for the first time. The key component control level and high temperature performance of the product are internationally leading. The successful development of this product has further enhanced the global competitiveness of TISCO's steel-chromium-aluminum series products, and has played a supporting role in the high-quality development of equipment manufacturing in related fields in China.

Wide-width lanthanum-containing iron-chromium-aluminum is used for deep-processing products. It has the characteristics of high yield rate, high production efficiency and good performance consistency. It is the key core material for the manufacture of equipment and devices in related fields. It is known as one of the crown products with high temperature resistance and longest life among iron-chromium-aluminum materials. It is used in industrial furnaces, food machinery, automobile transportation, household appliances, environmental protection equipment and other related fields, and has broad market prospects. Through years of continuous technical research, the chromium-aluminum team of TISCO has achieved a maximum width of 1,300 mm and a maximum single weight of 18 tons for lanthanum-containing iron-chromium-aluminum plates, and has achieved batch and continuous production. In the development of this product, TISCO has accumulated technology for more than ten years, broken through more than 20 key process technology problems, and applied for 16 invention patents, which provides a demonstrative reference for the next step of high-end stainless steel products and high-level technology research and development, and reserves research experience in mechanism.

At present, Japanese companies have developed large-scale production technology for iron-chromium-aluminum plates and strips based on continuous casting slabs, and the maximum width of the iron-chromium-aluminum plates provided is 950 mm, while most foreign companies still use die casting technology, and the products are iron-chromium-aluminum strips with a width of no more than 500 mm and a coil weight of less than 5 tons.

2. Guangxi Beigang New Materials polishes the "Beigang Smart Manufacturing" brand.

At the beginning of 2024, the "Digital Operation Capability of Production, Supply and Marketing Linkage" project of Guangxi Beigang New Materials Co., Ltd. was selected into the 2023 new generation of information technology and manufacturing industry integration development demonstration list of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This is another achievement of the company in recent years in creating the brand image of "Smart Manufacturing New Materials Never Stain".

In recent years, the company has aimed at the high-end transformation direction of the stainless steel field, accelerated the pace of digital transformation and upgrading, increased market research and technological innovation, created stainless steel products, and achieved a series of scientific and technological achievements. Among them, 38 scientific research results such as "a method for preparing nickel iron from nickel enriched laterite nickel ore" have been transformed, generating economic benefits of 80 million yuan. The testing center has been authoritatively recognized by CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment); the products have passed 7 foreign standard certifications such as RCS (Recycled Content Declaration Standard) and have been recognized by foreign markets; stainless structural steel, hand-torn steel, precision strip steel and marine engineering steel have filled the gap in the key technology field of stainless steel in Guangxi.

3. The key components of advanced ultra-supercritical power plant boilers developed by TISCO Group-TISCO Steel Pipe-China Iron and Steel Research Institute have been successfully localized. TISCO Group, TISCO Steel Pipe Company and China Iron and Steel Research Institute have cooperated to develop high Cr and Ni austenitic heat-resistant steel - C-HRA-5 (07Cr22Ni25W3Cu3Co2MoNbN, S31089, referred to as C5) based on Fe-22Cr-25Ni and adding W, Co, Cu, Nb, Mo, N and other elements. The development of C5 marks that China has broken the foreign monopoly and successfully achieved localization in key components of advanced ultra-supercritical power plant boilers. In May 2024, the product passed the "three new" material technical review organized by the State Administration for Market Regulation and will be used in Datang Group's Shandong Yuncheng 630℃ National Power Demonstration Project. It is the first application of new stainless steel heat-resistant pipe materials for ultra-supercritical power station boilers with independent intellectual property rights in China. The endurance strength of the C-HRA-5 sample tube at 700℃ and 100,000 hours is 114.4MPa, which is better than the high-temperature endurance strength of Super304 and HR3C.

4.Tsingtuo's advanced high-strength stainless steel promotes green development in the construction field.

Tsingtuo Group draws on the national standard GB/T 1951-2018 "Low Alloy High-Strength Structural Steel" and defines stainless steel with pitting resistance equivalent PREN ≥ 18.0 and plastic extension strength Rp0.2 (yield strength) ≥ 355MPa as "advanced high-strength stainless steel". With the advantages of high strength, high corrosion resistance and high cost performance, this product realizes lightweight design in the field of building structure and has been successfully applied to many national key engineering projects. Advanced high-strength stainless steel is applied to the landmark building of the Bougainvillea Germplasm Conservation and Application Base Project in Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, Sanya, Hainan, the Bougainvillea Welcome Tower, which innovatively combines stainless steel with aesthetic flexibility; it is applied to the column curtain wall of Chongqing Dongzhan Station, showing the curvaceous beauty of stainless steel processing plasticity, and promoting green development in the construction field; it is applied to the prefabricated core board building active building, which achieves a 30% lightweight design compared to the same type of carbon steel prefabricated buildings, with good economic and environmental benefits, and is first used in Southeast Asian countries along the "Belt and Road".

5. Taishan Steel Zibo Stainless Steel Application Innovation Base Project-the first stainless steel full-building customized green building project in China. 

In June 2024, the Taishan Steel Zibo Stainless Steel Application Innovation Base Project was completed. This project is the first stainless steel full-building customized green building project in China. It took 7 months, with a total construction area of ​​13,000 square meters and a usable area of ​​11,000 square meters. The entire project uses stainless steel materials from the frame to the facade, top surface, floor decking, door and window sheathing, gutter, downpipe to interior decoration, stairs, handrails, elevators, accessories, etc. The roof of this project uses original 430 building material stainless steel roof panels, which have good waterproof performance, heat insulation effect and the ability to resist 15-level typhoons. The front uses 430 cold-rolled thin plates made of Shandong Taishan Steel, which are special building materials. The thickness is only 0.7mm. The designer chose the line style of home appliance gray and TV gray, equipped with dense ribbed insulation Class A fireproof materials, forming a stainless steel dense ribbed insulation decoration integrated panel. The back of the project uses 16m stainless steel carved board materials, which are simpler to construct and have stronger thermal insulation performance. The gutters and downspouts also use stainless steel as the base material, with a design life of 50-80 years, becoming a benchmark case in the field of green buildings. The exterior facade decoration materials use three green new building materials: stainless steel dense ribbed insulation integrated panel, stainless steel metal carved integrated panel and stainless steel roof composite panel. These three products not only inherit the inherent advantages of stainless steel materials such as high strength, corrosion resistance, and full life cycle, but also integrate the cutting-edge concepts of green building materials such as energy saving, low carbon, environmental protection, fire prevention, and thermal insulation. The successful completion of the project demonstrates the perfect integration of stainless steel and green building materials, and injects new vitality into the development of green building materials in Zhoucun District. After completion, the project will be mainly used for the research and development and promotion of green stainless steel products, promoting the green development and technological innovation of the stainless steel industry.

6. The project hosted by Tsingtuo Group won the first prize of Metallurgical Science and Technology in 2024.

On August 7, 2024, the list of Metallurgical Science and Technology Awards of China Iron and Steel Association and China Metal Society in 2024 was announced. The project "New Process for RKEF-AOD Dual Smelting of Chromium-Nickel Stainless Steel and Development and Application of Nitrogen-Containing High Strengthening Products" hosted by Tsingtuo Group Co., Ltd. won the only first prize in the field of stainless steel materials this year, achieving a historic breakthrough. The new RKEF-AOD dual smelting process invented by Tsingtuo Group has been promoted to the China’s stainless steel industry and Indonesia, a country along the Belt and Road, helping Indonesia become the world's second largest stainless steel producer since 2021, and becoming a typical demonstration project initiated by China. The successful development, mass production, inclusion in national standards and engineering applications of nitrogen-containing high-strength stainless steel products have rewritten the history of decades of global nickel-saving austenitic stainless steel corrosion resistance failing to reach the level of chromium-nickel stainless steel, and have broken through the international difficulties of decades of large-scale and wide-ranging chromium-nickel austenitic stainless steel corrosion resistance, strength and cost being difficult to balance and difficult to use in load-bearing structures. More than 30 national standards, industry standards and group standards have been formulated.

7. TISCO successfully mass-produced ultra-pure precision alloy 4J36 foil for mask plates.

The production and preparation of mask plates (FMM) foils has always been blank in China, and the industry supply is mainly controlled by Japan, Germany and other countries, and the security of the industrial chain is under great threat. As a key material in the AMOLED industry, FMM is prone to folding, warping and other product failures under complex forces such as etching deformation and expansion stress during production and use. In August 2024, TISCO conducted a full-process technology research and development, solved the key problems of Invar alloy foil dimensional accuracy, mechanical properties control, etc., formed a complete set of key process technologies, and developed a mask 4J36 foil product that fills the gap in the industry. During the project development process, the high-precision low-roughness rolling process technology, multi-point bending straightening + low-temperature high-tension stress relief heat treatment multi-process high flatness control process represent the cutting-edge manufacturing level of the steel industry, and play a guiding role in improving the organization and performance control of the steel industry. The precision alloy 4J36 foil for mask fills the gap in the China’s precision foil industry for mask, and provides key basic material guarantees for the safe and healthy development of downstream industries.

8.TISCO successfully trial-produced large-unit-weight and wide-width N06625 nickel-based alloy hot coils.

In November 2024, the furnace coil rolling mill production line of TISCO Xinhai Company of TISCO Group successfully rolled off the N06625 nickel-based alloy hot coil, with a unit weight of more than 14 tons. This innovative achievement marks the completion of the entire process of TISCO's 625 nickel-based alloy from smelting to rolling. This is not only another major breakthrough for TISCO in the field of high-end metal materials, but also adds a new dimension to China's competitiveness in the global special alloy market. N06625 is a solid solution-strengthened nickel-based alloy with excellent corrosion resistance. It is widely used in various fields such as high-end equipment manufacturing and petroleum and petrochemicals. However, due to its characteristics of easy segregation during solidification, narrow hot working range, and high deformation resistance, it has become a global problem to achieve the production of wide coils of more than 10 tons per coil. In recent years, TISCO Group has given full play to the world's leading stainless steel manufacturing technology and the synergistic advantages of advanced equipment at various bases, and has achieved major innovations and breakthroughs in the preparation technology and rolling technology of ultra-large single-weight billets, and successfully trial-produced the world's largest wide-width N06625 nickel-based alloy hot coil. This innovative move by TISCO makes it the only enterprise in China and the third in the world that has the ability to mass produce nickel-based alloy N06625 wide-width coils through the entire process, and will provide global customers with more diverse, higher-quality and more efficient product choices.

9. Li Auto- and Tsingtuo Group jointly developed high-strength and tough stainless steel and successfully rolled off the production line.

On December 12, 2024, Tsingtuo Group and Li Auto and other industry chain partners jointly witnessed the launch ceremony of high-strength and tough stainless steel UFHS for new energy vehicle fuel tanks. The two parties signed a strategic cooperation agreement and unveiled the new energy vehicle stainless steel joint innovation center. The launch of this material marks that the high-strength and tough stainless steel jointly developed by Tsingtuo Group and Ideal Auto has officially entered the field of new energy vehicles. High-strength and tough stainless steel UFHS for high-pressure fuel tanks of new energy vehicles is a high-strength, high-corrosion-resistant and easy-to-form austenitic stainless steel material. Compared with traditional stainless steel for high-pressure fuel tanks, the yield strength is increased by more than 40%, its puncture resistance is stronger, and its application is safer. This material will be installed in Ideal Auto. Based on the cooperation foundation of fuel tank products, Tsingtuo Group will continue to deepen cooperation with Li Auto and other industry chain partners in the new materials of stainless steel for new energy vehicles, and jointly promote the research and development, production and application of new products of safe, high-strength, lightweight and low-carbon stainless steel.

10. TISCO stainless steel is used in the world's largest onshore LNG membrane storage tank project

In December 2024, the third phase of the Beijing Gas Tianjin Nangang LNG Emergency Reserve Project located in Tianjin Nangang Industrial Zone was completed and put into operation. This project is the first time that large-scale land storage tanks use membrane stainless steel technology. Among them, the enclosure systems of 6 220,000 cubic meters of LNG membrane storage tanks all use special stainless steel materials produced by TISCO. LNG has the advantages of convenient storage, easy transportation, and less pollution, and is recognized as the cleanest fossil energy on earth. LNG membrane storage tank is a new type of storage tank technology. Its inner tank enclosure system is all made of stainless steel film. Compared with traditional 9Ni storage tanks, it has obvious technical and economic advantages such as compact design, large effective tank capacity, and short construction period. TISCO, as a well-known China’s stainless steel manufacturer, is currently the only qualified supplier of this type of material in China. The successful substitution of imports this time has provided strong support for solving the "bottleneck" problem of basic materials for LNG storage in my country and realizing the localization of membrane LNG tanks.