lN-MILL LOGISTICS
USA UPDATE
MINIMILLS
STEELMAKING
Exclusive STI interview with Pesmel’s CEO, Tony Leikas
Panic button pressed on excess capacity, says Manik Mehta
US electric steelmakers are raising the stakes, says Myra Pinkham
An innovative technology for calcium treatment
www.steeltimesint.com November/December 2019 - Vol.43 No8
STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 – Vol.43 No8
WORLD STEEL ASSOCIATION GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019 – FULL COVERAGE INSIDE STI Cover 2.indd 1
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CONTENTS – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
lN-MILL LOGISTICS
USA UPDATE
MINIMILLS
STEELMAKING
Exclusive STI interview with Pesmel’s CEO, Tony Leikas
Panic button pressed on excess capacity, says Manik Mehta
US electric steelmakers are raising the stakes, says Myra Pinkham
An innovative technology for calcium treatment
18 World Steel General Assembly Full conference coverage.
2 Leader By Matthew Moggridge, editor, Steel Times International.
www.steeltimesint.com November/December 2019 - Vol.43 No8
STEEL TIMES INTERNATIONAL – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 – Vol.43 No8
The Titan 250 Gas Turbine Component, Solar Turbines, San Diego, California Picture courtesy of Solar Turbines
1
4 News round-up and facts & figures The latest news and diary dates.
Handling & Scheduling 28 In-mill logistics and steel 32 News from handling equipment suppliers.
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EDITORIAL Editor Matthew Moggridge Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855151 matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com Consultant Editor and Steel Guru Dr. Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Production Editor/Design Guru Annie Baker Advertisement Production Guru Martin Lawrence SALES International Sales Manager Paul Rossage paulrossage@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855116 Sales Director Ken Clark kenclark@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855117
35 Steelmaking Calcium carbide, not calcium metal.
8 Innovations The latest contracts and new products from international plant builders and suppliers.
40 Minimills US EAFs are raising the stakes.
13 USA update Panic button pressed on excess capacity.
44 Perspectives: Harbison Walker International Steel - a resilient market.
15 Latin America update Mexican steel’s US integration.
46 History Blood, sweat and tears in the USA.
Managing Director Tony Crinion tonycrinion@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855164 Chief Executive Officer Steve Diprose SUBSCRIPTION Elizabeth Barford Tel +44 (0) 1737 855028 Fax +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email subscriptions@quartzltd.com
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Steel Times International is published eight times a year and is available on subscription. Annual subscription: UK £195.00 Other countries: £270.00 2 years subscription: UK £350.00 Other countries: £485.00 ) Single copy (inc postage): £45.00 Email: steel@quartzltd.com
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Published by: Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, England. Tel: +44 (0)1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0)1737 855034
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www.steeltimesint.com Steel Times International (USPS No: 020-958) is published monthly except Feb, May, July, Dec by Quartz Business Media Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen 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 17318-0437.
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November/December 2019
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2
LEADER
Future Steel Forum, 2-3 June 2020 – call for abstracts...
Matthew Moggridge Editor matthewmoggridge@quartzltd.com
It seems like only yesterday that I put the finishing touches to the first ever Future Steel Forum, back in January 2017, ahead of the inaugural conference five months later in Warsaw, Poland. The reality, of course, is that three years have since passed and so have three very successful Future Steel Forum events – two in Poland and one earlier this year in Budapest. In so many ways the Future Steel Forum was well ahead of the curve, offering the steel industry a high-tech steel conference focused 100% on the subject of Industry 4.0 and its relevance to the steelmaking process. As I write this, the development process has started for the 2020 event and you will probably find an ad somewhere in this issue inviting potential speakers to submit an abstract for next year’s programme. In fact, if you’re interested in speaking, the final deadline for abstract submissions is Monday 16 December 2019 – not that long to go when you consider that this is the November/December 2019 edition of Steel Times International and the deadline will have passed by the time I sit down to pen my next leader article. If you are a steelmaker and think you have a story to tell our 2020 attendees,
then do get in touch as our growing community of high-tech steel industry executives (our delegates) would love to hear about the challenges you face and share with you their experiences of artificial intelligence, cyber security and other facets of digital manufacturing. If you’re a plant builder, the best way to find yourself on the 2020 programme is to involve a steelmaker, either as a copresenter or, if persuading them to speak is a bridge too far, why not consider a case study based on an Industry 4.0 project your company has undertaken in the primary steel industry? The Future Steel Forum programme has a wide remit, thanks to that word ‘future’. It means we can look at how digitalisation is smoothing the way for the ‘green steel revolution’. There’s nothing like being a trendsetter, of course. Since we launched the Future Steel Forum in 2017, it has spawned other metals events on both sides of the Atlantic and in Latin America. For further details, contact me direct or go to https://www.futuresteelforum.com and see how you can shape (and be a part of) the future today. Do get in touch.
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• On Monday 4 November the European Union argued for the withdrawal of tariffs imposed on metal imports by US President Donald Trump in front of a three-person panel of adjudicators at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The tariffs – 25% for steel and 10% for aluminium – were introduced in March 2018. Source: EU Observer.com, 5 November 2019.
• ThyssenKrupp has started construction on a new 600kt/ yr hot dip galvanising line at its site in Dortmund. The FBA10 is scheduled to commence operations in 2021 and will create over 100 new jobs. The new line will produce steels for interior vehicle parts and outer panel applications as well as zincmagnesium products with low coating thicknesses. Source: Steel Orbis, 5 November 2019.
NEWS ROUND-UP
• In the UK, readers of the South Wales Argus are being petitioned by the newspaper over the future of Orb Electrical Steels, a steel plant in Newport, South Wales, that might close at the end of 2019, jeopardising 380 jobs. The newspaper believes closing the plant is wrong and wants the government to step in and save the facility. Source: South Wales Argus, 6 November 2019.
• GFG Alliance has been awarded The French Chamber of Great Britain’s FrancoBritish Business Award for Sustainability. The company was declared winner of the Sustainability Award at the event, hosted at the Mayfair Hotel, London, on 7 November. Source: GFG Alliance, 8 November 2019 • Activists and residents in the Mon Valley, Allegheny County, USA, are calling for stricter hydrogen sulphide (H2S) pollution and coke oven gas controls related largely to the US Steel Clairton Coke Works in Clairton. Residents have complained of watery eyes, runny noses, headaches, nausea and sleep interruption from H2S, which is a colourless gas that smells like rotten eggs. Source: triblive.com, 6 November 2019.
• Karl Haider has been appointed chief commercial officer for Tata Steel in Europe to further strengthen the company’s focus on customers. He replaces Henrik Adam (pictured below) who became CEO of Tata Steel in Europe in June this year. Source: Tata Steel Europe, 8 November 2019.
• Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG has opened the world’s largest pilot plant for CO2-neutral production of hydrogen. The plant has a capacity of over six megawatts and will test whether the technology deployed to produce green hydrogen can be used industrially. The company hopes to reduce its CO2 emissions by over 80% by 2050. Source: h2-view.com, 9 November 2019
• There’s a row going on in Italy following uncertainty surrounding ArcelorMittal’s decision to buy Ilva, the state-owned steelmaker nationalised in 2015. Workers at a Taranto mill owned by Ilva are said to face an uncertain future if the world’s biggest steelmaker walks away, as it is hinting it might, but the Italian government has vowed to be inflexible in holding the steelmaker to its deal. Source: thelocal.it, 9 November 2019
• Metinvest Group has set up a new 2.5Mt/yr continuous casting machine at its Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in the Ukraine. According to an online report, the plant’s slab sales have surged by 50.87% year-on-year to almost 520kt. The company cut certain pig iron output in order to install the new equipment and as a result production decreased 8.52%. The company plans to decrease slab output and raise steel output next year. Source: Yieh.com, 9 November 2019
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NEWS ROUND-UP • ThyssenKrupp’s chief financial officer of its Forged Technologies company in Germany, has been appointed CFO of Brazilian plane maker, Embraer SA. Antonio Carlos Garcia worked for nine years at TK. Source: EuroNews.com, 10 November 2019
• ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, is awaiting the go-ahead from India’s Supreme Court before it completes its acquisition of Essar Steel. The company is expected to fund the transaction with one-third equity and two-third debt along with its JV partner Nippon Steel Corporation. Source: The Hindu, 10 November 2019.
• ThyssenKrupp’s elevator business is up for sale and could fetch up to USD20 billion. Bidders include rival Kone as well as some of the world’s largest private equity groups. Source: Seeking Alpha.com, 10 November 2019.
• US steel giant Nucor Corporation has awarded SMS group of Germany the contract to supply what is believed to be one of the largest casters in the world. The singlestrand caster will be used to make ultra-wide and thick slabs and will have an annual capacity of 1.45Mt (1.6 million short tons). It’s home will be Nucor’s Brandenburg facility in Kentucky. Source: SMS group 11/11/2019
J Ayodhyaram, president of CITU, the recognised union of RINL, was told by Dharmendra Pradhan, the NDA government’s Union Steel Minister, that there were no plans to hand over surplus land for a special grade greenfield steel plant. Source: The Hindu, 11 November 2019.
• Tata Motors is partnering with Tata Steel in India to use Tigor electric vehicles (EVs) to transport employees at its Jamshedpur facility. The first batch of EVs has already been handed over and the rest will follow. The idea is to reduce carbon emissions and motivate employees to support and move to green vehicles. Source: Economic Times, 11 November 2019. • State-owned steel manufacturer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) has witnessed protests from employee unions over a proposal by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to set aside surplus land on the site of its Visakhapatnmam Steel Plant for an automotive joint venture with South Korean steelmaker POSCO. • In an article on the BBC website, business journalist Simon Jack says that some industry observers are suggesting that one reason Chinese steelmaker Jingye wants to acquire British Steel is because it would allow the company to import raw material from China, finish it into higher value products and stick a ‘made in England’ badge on it, making it easier than it is now to export to the USA. Source: BBC, 13 November 2019
• Tata Steel in India is to sell its 56.5% stake in the Vietnam-based NatSteel Vina to the Vietnamese company Thai Hung Trading for the princely sum of US$5.14 million. The joint venture business was established in 1993 with VINASTEEL and operates a 200kt/yr hot rolling mill in Thai Nguyen. Source: Deal Street Asia.com, 14 November 2019.
• The European Steel Association (EUROFER) will be talking to the European Commission about Chinese steelmaker Jingye’s proposed acquisition of British Steel. Eurofer argues that Jingye’s decision to buy British Steel is a way of China exporting excess steel capacity to the edge of the European Union. Source: NASDAQ, 13 November 2019.
For more global steel news, log on to our news website, www.steeltimesint.com
November/December 2019
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6 DIARY OF EVENTS
November 25-27: 4th Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference Location: Orebro Castle, Sweden Organised by: Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials A highly respected conference covering a variety of topics including powder for metal additive manufacturing and systems. For further information, log on to www.mamc2019.org January 2020 7-8: 4th SMU Steel 101 Workshop Location: Ontario, California, USA Organised by: CRU Group The Steel 101 Workshop is claimed to be the premier industry training event for understanding steelmaking and market fundamentals. Further information, contact: conferences@crugroup.com 25-27: Mexican Steel Forum Location: The Westin Monterrey Valle, Monterrey, Mexico Organised by: Fastmarkets MB Meet over 200 professionals from the biggest North American steel mills as well as freight and logistics companies, scrap processors, automotive OEMs and more. The only multi-national, bilingual conference that attracts the entire regional supply chain to Mexico. Further information, contact: marketing@metalbulletin.com February 2020 25: 3rd Postgraduate Research Symposium on Ferrous Metallurgy Location: London. Organised by: Materials Processing Institute The aim of the symposium is to enable PhD researchers and university departments from across the UK to showcase their research to inspire academics and research students to engage in the steel industry's research challenges. Further information, contact: www.mpiuk.com/doctoralacademy-symposium.htm 25-27: China Iron Ore 2020 Location: Grand Hyatt, Beijing. Organised by: Fastmarkets MB Bringing together individuals from across the iron and steel supply chain. For further information, contact: marketing@metalbulletin.com
FACTS
• Mexico is the 14th largest steel producer in the world and has a strong focus on the environment with CO2 emissions below the world average. Source: World Steel General Assembly.
• Steel will remain the dominant structural material in automotive between 2020 and 2040, but after that might decrease by around 20%. Aluminium remains the biggest challenge for steel. Source: Carla Bailo, Centre for Automotive Research (CAR).
• 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 and currently 30% of the city’s total CO2 emissions were primarily caused by traffic. Globally, 1.25 million deaths are the result of road traffic accidents. Source: Alexander W Wehr, President and CEO, BMW Latin America.
• In 2017 the European steel industry employed 327,700 people and produced EUR147.8 billion worth of output, a rise of 20% on 2016. Source: EUROFER.
• Worldwide revenues for BMW hovered around 100 billion Euros. In Latin America the company employs 5,000 people. Source: Alexander W Wehr, President and CEO, BMW Latin America.
• The world produces enough steel to build an Eiffel Tower every three minutes and 24 seconds. That’s 154,800 Eiffel Towers in one year. Source: Tata Steel.
• In earthquake prone zones, the foundations of a concrete building are up to 75% heavier compared to light steel-framed solutions. Steel frames have the added advantage of ductility and flexibility. Source: World Steel Association. • Annual direct, indirect and induced EU tax revenues associated with steel total EUR60 billion. In 2017 this sum of money would have been sufficient to fund the pay of 1.5 million teaching and healthcare professionals across the EU. Source: EUROFER.
• Substituting advanced high strength steels for regular steels makes it possible to build high-rise buildings with 50% less steel compared to the amount needed 50 years ago. Source: World Steel Association
November/December 2019
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INNOVATIONS
Fives has been selected for two strategical contracts to design and supply reheating furnaces to Chinese steelmakers, both with very strict requirements on energy consumption and NOx emissions. In China, local steelmakers are committed to choosing green technologies for non-polluting performance. The first project covers an ultra-low NOx emission furnace to reheat long products, such as stainless steel bars, coils or wires for Yantai Walsin Stainless Steel, a subsidiary of Walsin Lihwa, a world leading manufacturer of stainless steel. The advanced technology offered by Fives – Stein reheating walking beam furnace – will completely satisfy Walsin's requirements, claims Fives. The furnace in question will have a capacity of 85 tons/hr and will be equipped with the latest generation AdvanTek burners, designed in France with the sole intention of guaranteeing energy efficiency and ultra-low NOx emissions – less than 100 mg/m3. The second contract was signed with HBIS SHISTEEL – Shijiazhuang Iron & Steel Company within China’s HBIS Group – for two reheating
Two Chinese furnaces contracts for Fives Group
Chinese steelmaker modernises State-owned 11Mt/yr Chinese steelmaker Fujian Sangang Minguang Group, regarded as the most important steel producer in the province, has contracted Friedrich Kocks (Kocks) of Germany to supply a RSB 370 ++/4 in 5.0 design (RSB 370). The RSB 370, claims Kocks, is a key component of an extensive modernisation project designed to further improve the finished quality of Sanming’s SBQ products. According to Kocks, the project includes the supply of H/V stands, shears, a new bar in coil line with finishing facilities, an upgrade of the
inspection line, civil works and the automation of mechanical equipment. The RSB 370 will be located as a finishing unit after the roughing and intermediate train consisting of 21 stands in horizontal/vertical arrangements and will produce bar in coil within a dimension of 16mm to 48mm and straight bars of 20mm to 90mm. Commissioning is scheduled for Q2 2020. For further information, log on to www.kocks.de
Peak Shaver installed at VINA Kyoei Steel Italian plant builder Tenova, through its subsidiary Tenova Goodfellow of Canada, has installed and commissioned a Peak Shaver at VINA Kyoei Steel, Vietnam, providing continuous improvement for melt shop operations. In September 2018, VINA Kyoei Steel placed the order for the Peak Shaver, inclusive of hardware components, engineering, CFD modeling, commissioning and installation support. The objective of the project was to provide the customer with quantifiable solutions that will address the following areas: fume scattering in the melt shop; water leakage from the cooling duct and gas cooler-breakages; and clogging of the gas cooler and buster fan. The scope of supply included engineering, supply and start-up of both the Peak Shaver drop out box and refractory and the Peak Shaver Tower.
innovations.indd 1
The Peak Shaver Tower is the most effective type of cooling system for the EAF’s primary fumes. Equipment supplied will be made-to-measure thus ensuring an exact fit to the existing structure. The system was commissioned in late spring 2019. During commissioning, on-site training was provided to ensure that VINA Kyoei Steel personnel were on board with process techniques, operating procedures and maintenance strategies for the equipment supplied. This sale is a result of a joint collaboration between Tenova Goodfellow Inc. and Sumitomo Shoji Machinex Corporation to bring relevant breakthrough products to the South East Asia steel industry. For further information, log on to www.tenova.com
21/11/2019 14:20:19
INNOVATIONS
9
furnaces, each with a production capacity of 130 tons/hr. According to Fives, the company chose the Stein Digit@l Furnace walking beam furnace because of its green performance. The furnace operates on natural gas, is equipped with Fives' patented wide flame burners and a combustion system with individual on/off control. The wide flame burners are claimed to improve the crosswise and lengthways temperature profiles of the products, while the individual on-off control allows high thermal efficiency while reducing fuel consumption and NOx emissions. HBIS SHISTEEL is relocating its steelmaking facilities 80km from Shijiazhuang city to set up new standards for cleaner, more flexible and more efficient steelmaking in China. The scope of both projects on an EPC basis includes engineering, equipment supply, erection and commissioning, which will be carried out by Fives Stein Metallurgical Technology (Shanghai), a Fives’ subsidiary in China.
Energy Efficiency Excellence
= minimized costs
For further information, log on to www.fivesgroup.com
New kit for AM Monlevade A 130-ton-hot-metal desulfurisation station (DeS) and a new dedusting system supplied by Primetals Technologies commenced operation at ArcelorMittal Monlevade in Brazil. The new equipment represents the first time that Primetals Technologies has combined a volumetric dosing device for Magnesium (Mg) and a pressure dispenser for Calcium Oxide (CaO). Low sulfur levels of less than 0.005% (50ppm) can be achieved, consumption of desulfurisation agents is reduced significantly and processing times are reduced to less than 30 minutes when compared with treatment in a torpedo car. The associated level 2 system predicts the end sulfur content with, claims the company, high accuracy; and deviations of real from predicted value is said to be below 5ppm on average. The dedusting system installed in the melt shop processes approximately 900,000 m3/hr. A handling system for 130-tonne hot metal ladles was also part of the project. Primetals Technologies was responsible for the engineering, supply and advisory services for re-
action and start-up of the desulfurisation station. Equipment included a volumetric dosing device for dosing of Mg, a pressure dispenser for dosing CaO, lance and injection systems and the material handling system, including an unloading station, silos for storage, and material transport. Level 1 and level 2 automation with process models, enables precise process control and dosing as well as prediction of end sulfur content. This allows for flexible and optimum injection ratios of CaO/Mg from 2:1 to 10:1. The co-injection takes places with fully decoupled control of the conveying of Mg and CaO. The DeS station is also designed to operate with fluidised CaO or CaC2 (Calcium Carbide). Pure Mono-injection of CaO or CaC2 is possible. The new desulfurisation station replaced existing equipment performed in torpedo cars, reducing consumption of desulfurisation agents and processing times. The need to clean the torpedo cars is reduced, deslagging simplified and metal losses during de-slagging reduced. Primetals claims that the new dedusting system covers two BOF converters, the DeS and slag skimming stand as well as the HM mixer. The company engineered, supplied and installed charging coolers for BOF charging evacuation, pulse jet filters with eight chambers and a filter area of 11,270 m2, and two induced draft (ID) fans with a power rating of 1,500 kW each. Filtered dust is discharged to containers. A handling system for the 130-t-hot metal ladles is part of the deal and includes ladles, a transfer car with integrated ladle tilting device and a deslagging machine.
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INNOVATIONS
High endurance steel from Tata Steel According to Tata Steel, Valast 450 was developed in close collaboration with world-leading OEMs, has a typical hardness of 450 HBW and is designed to extend the product life of equipment that is subject to high abrasion wear, such as tipper trucks, dump trucks and asphalt pavers. Tata Steel claims to be the first company to offer this abrasion-resistant strip product in special dimensions from 2 - 12 mm thick and 1,000 - 2,000 mm wide. The steelmaker guarantees impact toughness of ≥34 J/cm2 (up to -40 degrees Celsius) and
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a yield stength of 1,250 MPa. This allows the down-gauging of material in wear-intensive applications for lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles and equipment. Steel hardness, says Tata Steel, is vital to the development of high performance, abrasion-resistant steel. According to the ASTM G65 Standard, the abrasion resistance of Valast 450 is 2.5 times greater than structural steel (e.g. S355). Additionally, it is claimed to offer ‘consistent dimensional tolerances and flatness to comply with EN 10051’ and can be supplied in custom-
ised lengths. Tata Steel says that Valast 450 hot-rolled strip offers superior surface quality when compared with reversing mill plate in ‘as rolled’ condition and the result is claimed to be further cost advantages. Due to its high surface quality, Tata says there is no need for shot blasting; tighter tolerances are claimed to reduce waste as well as the need for rework; and the wider dimensions of the material allow easier processing. In order to develop optimal application solutions for each individual user, Tata Steel offers individual technical support for Valast 450, which can be extended to include Tata Steel’s Advanced Engineering Service based on CAD analysis and simulation. Valast’s low CET of less than 0.33 ensures that all conventional welding methods can be used. It is fully accredited and available only via a proven supply chain. Adrian Davies, marketing manager engineering at Tata Steel, commented: “Valast 450 was developed in close co-operation with major OEMs and thus takes into account key customer requirements. The long lasting high quality of Valast 450 ensures that users maximise their processing efficiency and end product performance, while staying protected from costly downtime.” For further information, log on to www.tatasteel.co.uk
www.steeltimesint.com
21/11/2019 14:20:39
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USA UPDATE
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Panic button pressed on excess capacity China is still the big bad wolf when it comes to global overcapacity, and in the USA the steel industry is beginning to wonder whether Trump’s tariffs are little more than a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes. By Manik Mehta* IT was certainly not the first time that apex organisations of steel manufacturers around the world, including in the United States, raised alarm about excessive steel capacity flooding the market. This time, again, 19 steel industry associations, including the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers’ Association and several other trade associations in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, recently urged their respective government to institute immediate action to redress the situation. While the general consensus suggests there is excess global steel capacity of some 500Mt, some experts are pointing their fingers at the single largest source of excessive steel: China. The world’s second-largest economy today produces roughly 1 billion tons (2018 production), up from some 143Mt some 18 years ago. The world’s steel production has surged from 936Mt in 2006 to 1.97 billion tons in 2018, as per the data of the World Steel Association. On the other hand, the US share of global production has dropped from 12% in 2000 to a mere 5% in 2018. Steel associations across the world, following the US example, have urged the governments of their countries to take action to curb the problem of global steel excessive capacity, and resort to strictly enforcing regulations and corrective measures to reduce excess capacity, its implications and its causes, and enacting tougher trade laws and negotiating better trade deals. While lauding the efforts of the G20 and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the G20 Global
Forum on Steel Excess Capacity and the OECD Steel Committee to address the issue of excessive steel capacity and support a level-playing field, they also lamented that measures taken so far to reduce capacity and address the causes of market distortion, including the raw-material markets, had been inadequate. Consequently, they urged the governments to redouble their efforts to eliminate practices that created excess capacity. The industry associations specifically called for the elimination of marketdistorting subsidies and for retaining tariffs to ensure a level-playing field driven by market forces. But are tariffs and tighter controls the answer to the ills of US steel manufacturers? Many question whether tariffs have brought long-term relief to the beleaguered US steel companies. Indeed, even as the steel tariffs temporarily bolstered the steel industry, many are quite disappointed by the steel industry’s declining fortunes; these are the same people who had applauded President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy as he announced steel import tariffs under Section 232. But the tariffs have not brought a long-term boost to the industry. Steel prices, which soared when tariffs were introduced, have since fallen below the level at the start of the US-China trade war, declining by over 40% since last summer, according to one key metric. Shares of the key steel companies, which had gained in strength when tariffs were first introduced, have also dropped over the past year – in some cases by over 50% –
caused, among other things, by lukewarm to low demand for steel production and a global economic slowdown. These and other factors could have political ramifications for President Trump who had promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. But Trump continues to deny the steel industry is mired in problems. “Our steel mills are fired up and blazing bright. The assembly lines are roaring. The steel companies are thriving again,” he said during a rally in August in Pennsylvania. White House spokesman Judd Deere lent support to the President’s claims by saying that an additional 5,700 jobs in the steel industry had been created after the tariff introduction, besides increasing wages for steelworkers. While steel employment did rise, slightly, since tariffs were imposed, according to official data, it has been declining since the start of this year, and is below 2012-2014 levels. US steel demand grew 2.1% in 2018; this year’s slowdown in US construction and automobiles produced has contributed to demand falling to a mere 1%, and is projected to grow by just 0.4% in 2020, according to recent World Steel Association projections. The US steel industry also faces other challenges such as declining spending by steel-consuming industries. With prices of many products using steel declining since July 2018, buyers of steel are cautious about placing new orders whose value may decline in the coming week. The experiences of US Steel are not uncommon in the steel industry; the
* USA correspondent www.steeltimesint.com
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USA UPDATE
company’s shares had jumped from $ 33 to $ 45 soon after the steel tariffs were announced. However, just a year and a quarter after that surge, the company’s shares have been steadily falling. US Steel has, meanwhile, announced it would be temporarily laying off workers at its Michigan and Indiana plants. Other companies also have their share of problems. Bayou Steel in Louisiana recently announced it would be laying off workers. The optimism, initially discernible in places like Eastern Kentucky and elsewhere following the tariff introduction, seemed to be gradually fading away, as lay-offs continue in a number of steel plants. Trump’s tariffs and their impact on the steel industry, for whose protection they were originally designed, would make a good subject for a case study on why there are limits on the effectiveness of tariffs to revive a particular industry. Tariffs, as one analyst put it, do not necessarily revive a particular industry – but they do make imported steel more expensive, particularly for the consumers. And, worse still, foreign steel suppliers, who were the target of the tariffs, were discovering new ingenious ways to circumvent tariffs; according to Nucor Corporation, which had compiled data on the subject, the Trump administration, for political or other reasons, had excluded more than 25,000 import items from being penalised with tariffs. Meanwhile, in its latest evaluation, the credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded its outlook for the entire US steel industry from “stable” to “negative”, attributing this classification to a slowdown in overall manufacturing and declining prices. Carol Cowan, a senior vice president at Moody’s, was reported as saying in the US media that the steel industry’s situation was not expected to improve anytime soon. The benchmark US steel price had declined steadily since the second half of 2018, when prices were just above $ 800 a ton, down to $520 a ton. While in 2018 tariffs boosted US steel prices and the profitability of steelmakers – Nucor, for example, posted record earnings, with US Steel Corp’s and AK Steel’s earnings also rising over the previous year – US steelmakers’ earnings have fallen this year and are expected to fall further in the third quarter, thanks to declining metal prices and subdued demand. The fourth quarter is not expected to be any better, given that end-user demand towards the year-end is, usually, weak. Another setback to the steel industry comes in the form of a labour strike at General Motors, a major steel consumer. The automotive sector is the second largest consumer of end steel. Meanwhile, Nucor’s CEO John Ferriola recently maintained during a conference call with analysts that pricing in the domestic market had bottomed off. Ferriola discerned a few market trends that could drive steel pricing back up, including an improved outlook for scrap prices. US scrap prices have been falling in much of the past seven months, with an upsurge occurring in August. Ferriola said Nucor expected fourth-quarter sales volumes to increase. Other market participants who said prices were nearing, or had already reached, the bottom, also voiced this view. �
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LATIN AMERICA UPDATE
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Mexican steel’s US integration Canacero estimates that Mexican steel industry losses amounted to nearly $400M in the first 11 months of Section 232 being in force. Germano Mendes de Paula* examines how a country that is often characterised as both North American and Latin American, integrates with its NAFTA partner, the USA
MEXICO is characterised as both a North American and a Latin American country. It is crystal-clear that it has quite similar cultural roots to former Spanish colonies in the Americas and to Brazil as well. Moreover, companies based in other Latin American nations, such as Ternium and Tenaris from Argentina and Gerdau from Brazil, have extensive investments in the Mexican steel industry. Conversely, Simec from Mexico has gained relevance in the Brazilian steel sector, because after constructing a greenfield it has recently acquired another mill. Nevertheless, in many statistical reports, including those published by worldsteel, Mexico is included as part of North America. Where international steel trade is concerned, the country is highly integrated with the USA and Canada. However, its exports have been restricted by the USA’s imposition of Section 232 until May 2019. Important figures First of all, it is worth remembering that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force in January 1994. Table 1 shows that the exporting levels of
Destiny
USA
USA
MEXICO 39
CANADA NAFTA 49 88
MEXICO 65
5
70
CANADA 90
0
97
7
Table 1. Steel exports of USA, Mexico and Canada to NAFTA region (%). Source: Global Steel Trade Monitor, US Department of Commerce; ITA quoted by Canacero
each NAFTA country in the region is very high. For instance, 49% of the USA’s exports go to Canada and 39% to Mexico. 65% of of Mexico’s exports are sold to the USA and 5% to Canada, totalling 70%. For Canada, the proportion is even higher, as the USA represents 90% and Mexico 7%, achieving a total of 97%. Taking into consideration that productive and commercial integration bears fruit in the long-term, it seems wise to investigate the evolution of the steel trade between Mexico and its NAFTA partners over the decades. Fig 1 demonstrates the progress of Mexican steel exports and imports to and from the USA over the period 1990-2018. It is important to stress that these figures refer only the Chapter 72 of the Harmonised System. Therefore, some transformed steel products, which are classified into
Fig 1. Mexican steel exports and imports to and from the USA, 1990-2018 ($bn). Source: United Nations Contrade
Chapter 73, such as welded tubes, are not considered. Another important disclaimer deals with data based on monetary values, which is obviously influenced by prices, rather than tonnage. However, the information is provided by the United Nations Contrade, which is freely available and allows similar analysis to other market integration experiences. Mexican steel exports to the USA increased from $404M in 1990 to 1.06bn in 2000, to $2.0bn in 2010, and even to $2.5bn in 2018. Meanwhile, the imports totalled $510M, $1.7bn, $3.6bn and $4.6bn respectively. In 1990, imports were 26% bigger than exports. In 1995, imports were 28% lower than exports, but this was a temporary situation. More recently, imports were 165% in 2015 and 83% in 2018 higher than imports.
Fig 2. Mexican steel exports and imports to and from Canada, 1990-2018 ($bn). Source: United Nations Contrade
* Professor in Economics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil. E-mail: germano@ufu.br www.steeltimesint.com
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Fig 2 shows the international trade relationship between Mexico and Canada, for the same period. Mexican steel exports to Canada have amplified from $1M in 1990 to $110M in 2018. Despite the substantial growth rate, the reality is that the base was quite low. In the interim, the respective imports gained traction from $24M to $471M. In 2018, Canadian steel exports to Mexico were 330% higher than the other way around. Fig 3 analyses Mexican steel exports sold to NAFTA’s partners as a proportion of total exports. This ratio was equivalent to 84% in 1990, then reached 89% in 1994 and 2002. It decreased to 55% in 2008 and reverted partially to 74% in 2018. Regarding imports, the share varied around 49% on average, but a recent tendency towards diminution has been observed since 2015. Last year, it achieved 40%. Section 232 Taking into consideration the data presented in the previous section, it is obvious that Mexico is very much part of the NAFTA steel market. In particular,
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Fig 3. Mexican steel exports and imports to and from the USA and Canada, 1990-2018 (% of the total exports and imports). Source: United Nations Contrade
the sectorial trade deficit with the USA has been enlarging (Fig. 1). Furthermore, according to the Mexican steel chamber (Canacero), the country represents only 10% of the USA’s sector imports. In this contest, it is difficult to explain the reasons that could justify the inclusion of Mexico in the list of countries impacted by Section 232. Canacero estimates that Mexican steel industry losses amounted to nearly $400M in the first 11 months of Section 232 being in force. This value was based on export performance in the period June
2018-April 2019 in comparison with the same period one year before. Máximo Vedoya, Canacero’s president, declared that the mentioned restriction implied a 13% production drop, a workforce reduction and halted investments. It also contributed to a diminished installed capacity utilisation ratio to 68%, which is among the lowest levels in three decades. Finally, in May 2019, Mexican steel was exempted from Section 232. The exports are already recovering, which will help the industry to consolidate its product and commercial integration in North America.�
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WORLDSTEEL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019 1. Saaed Al Remeithi, Emirates Steel
Uncertain times ahead
2. Conference delegates 3. Dr Edwin Basson, worldsteel 4. Yu Yong, HBIS
Highly unpredictable, challenging times and downside risks - three ways of describing the current state of play in the global steel industry. Matthew Moggridge* flew to Monterrey, Mexico, to attend the World Steel Association General Assembly and found more than one glimmer of hope THE Quinta Real hotel in Monterrey, Mexico, is largely hidden from view. It can be found squeezed between the SAFI hotel on its right and a cream and black skyscraper on its left. Visitors follow a short and shaded driveway guarded by petrified angels and soon find themselves in the lobby of this old and, some would argue, tired hotel, the venue for this year’s World Steel Association General Assembly. Proceedings always kick off with a press conference on worldsteel’s Short Range Outlook (SRO). Journalists were told that steel demand in China will grow by 7.8% to reach 900.1Mt and that the rest of the world is expected to record 0.2% growth to 874.9Mt. The SRO predicts that Chinese steel demand will grow by 1% and that steel demand in the rest of the world will grow 2.5%, driven by 4.1% growth in the emerging and developing economies, excluding China. For 2019, global steel demand will grow by 3.9% to 1.775 Mt and by another 1.7% in 2020, reaching 1,805.7Mt. ‘China has surprised us’ Saaed Al Remeithi, chairman of the World Steel Economics Committee, told journalists that Chinese steel demand was showing high growth this year owing to a strong real estate sector and despite the country’s lowest expected GDP growth since 1992. “China has surprised us,” said worldsteel’s director-general Dr. Edwin Basson.
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According to Dr. Basson, the top three downside risks to the global steel industry are based on the uncertainty of the international trade environment. He highlighted growing protectionist notes in a number of countries; government support measures introduced into the construction and automotive industries; and consumer uncertainty. “In China we have seen interesting support of the construction sector as well as legislation changing the strength of material in building practices. In some
South East Asian markets there has been similar support for those moving into urban areas. The risk is if the government turns off the tap quickly, but it’s not likely so when we factor this in, even though we live in a pessimistic environment, if you look at what’s happening on the ground, there is surprising robustness,” Dr. Basson added. “Consumers are waiting for more clarity, more certainty.” Dr. Yu Yong, chairman of HBIS Group, echoed Dr. Basson’s remarks about the situation in China and said that even though there are tensions between the USA and China, the situation is under control. Dr. Yong said that steel demand was robust. He argued that the Chinese economy in 2019 was doing well, with strong figures for steel demand driven by infrastructure spending and government support for the manufacturing sector. According to Dr. Yong there was still a lot of space for infrastructure investment
*Editor, Steel Times International November/December 2019
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WORLDSTEEL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019
in China. “The Chinese economy remains resilient and growth will continue as we still have a lot of space to bolster the economy,” he said, acknowledging that there had been a contraction in the Chinese automotive sector, but not because of a slowing down of the economy, more a case of consumer uncertainty. Saeed Al Remeithi, chairman of the worldsteel economics committee, commented: “The current SRO suggests that global steel demand will continue to grow in 2019, more than we expected in these challenging times, mainly due
4 to China. In the rest of the world, steel demand slowed in 2019 as uncertainty, trade tensions and geopolitical issues weighed on investment and trade. Manufacturing, particularly the auto industry, has performed poorly, contracting in many countries. However, in construction, despite some slowing, a positive momentum has been maintained.” The global economic outlook, Mr Al Remeithi said, was ‘highly unpredictable’. There were, he said, ‘significant downside risks’ ahead if the current level of uncertainty prevails. www.steeltimesint.com
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Long-term challenges Dr. Basson spoke of the long-term challenges to the industry. Environmental change is one, he said, but so is the shift of economic power from the West to the East and the shift of people into urban areas, a subject that would be covered in greater depth in a later session about smart cities. Digitalisation and increased automation will impact everything we do, said Dr. Basson, and will provide opportunities and challenges. “This conference will try to shed light on these challenges,” he said. Andre Johannpeter, executive vice chairman of Gerdau SA and chairman of worldsteel, said that occupational safety would always be top of the agenda. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our workers,” he said, adding that the industry had come a long way on safety. He said that the image of the steel industry was intact and that energy consumption had been declining over the years. The construction industry, which accounts for 50% of steel demand globally, has been reducing waste, Johannpeter said, arguing that acting within the principles of the circular economy was crucial. The steel industry employs 96 million worldwide and for every two jobs, more than 13 jobs are supported throughout the value chain, Johannpeter claimed, adding that major challenges lie ahead, notably that of tackling overcapacity - a perennial problem. Sitting in the press room listening to Alfonso Romo, chief of staff to the President of Mexico, proved a little problematic as the sound kept cutting out, but I managed to learn that Mr Romo and Gerdau’s Andre Johannpeter both competed in the Sydney Olympics. I also heard Mr Romo state that ‘we don’t control President Trump’. Who does? A very strong sector Dr. Jesus Seade, Deputy Foreign Minister, Government of Mexico, said he was very fond of the steel industry. “It is a very strong sector as its name suggests,” he said. He spoke of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and said that Mexico went from being a single product country to becoming a formidable manufacturing nation. Looking back, Seade said that Mexico made ‘crisis after crisis’ a permanent way of life in the 50s, 60s and 70s, but after joining GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and then
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NAFTA, Mexico became an open economy, a great exporter, the biggest exporter in Latin America. But despite the benefits of NAFTA, Seade said that growth in Mexico was ‘abysmal’ and people started to blame NAFTA. While a policy of repressed salaries gave Mexico the edge as an exporter, there were no resources to grow demand. Seade described the new USMCA as both user and business friendly. He said a major impact of the new treaty was to make it more attractive for companies to invest in the region and benefit from free trade. While there had been a lot of animosity – a terrible year – it was now down to correcting specific points and the treaty is moving clearly towards completion. Ultimately, Seade believes Mexico will have a pretty good future in North America. The opening session of the conference returned to worldsteel’s Short Range Outlook and the global economic downturn of late 2018, which was aggravated in 2019 by global trade tensions between the USA and China, not forgetting issues surrounding Brexit and conflicts in the Middle East, all of which were clear factors adversely affecting business governance. Brexit uncertainty Brexit uncertainty was undermining confidence and investment in Europe and increasing the risk of an EU recession, while in the USA the ‘long lasting boom’ was coming to an end. Manufacturing in Japan and Korea was suffering from weakening exports and in China, GDP of 6.1% was the lowest figure since 1992. US/China trade tensions have led to further pressures on the Chinese economy resulting in weakening consumption and manufacturing. Elsewhere, there is a mixed picture with headwinds from slowing export markets in Asia, reform and policy uncertainty in Latin America and geo-political instability in the MENA region where oil prices are dictating the regional outlook. In Turkey, last year’s currency crisis has led to deep contractions in many sectors, problems further complicated by Turkey’s recent invasion of North Eastern Syria and the possible ramifications from resulting US sanctions. A slowing global economy and declining investments have hit key steel-using sectors this year, although an automotive ‘recession’ will draw to a close at the end of 2019 with a moderate recovery expected in 2020. The automotive situation has been November/December 2019
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affected by many factors including market saturation, a fading of stimuli, regulation change and, of course, the transition from petrol-driven to electric vehicles. A moderate rebound in construction is expected in 2020, but not in China, and no rebound at all is visible for the machinery sector. In fact, there was strong growth recorded in the mechanical machinery sector during 2017/18, but such growth will decelerate in 2019 to just 2.3% and will reduce further to 0.4% in 2020. In the European Union, however,
replaced by Vietnam, which might well put in a steel demand figure of 25.3Mt. In China, however, a strong real estate sector has boosted construction activity as have new safety regulations, which have increased the steel content in new buildings. Manufacturing, on the other hand has been sluggish due to trade tensions and a slowing economy, although focused stimuli will boost infrastructure investment and the automotive industry in 2020. There is, however, a downside risk from trade tensions. China was by far the
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5. Alfonso Romo, Govt of Mexico 6. John Ferriola, Nucor Corporation 7. General Assembly delegates 8. Andre Johannpeter, Gerdau 9. Jesus Seade, Govt of Mexico 10. Guillermo Vogel, Tenaris
residential construction, which is driven by infrastructure investments, will still benefit from low interest rates. In the USA and South Korea the spectre of stressed household budgets will certainly cast its shadow and in emerging markets. Global steel demand will continue to grow during 2019 and 2020 at a similar pace to 2018. In 2020, most regions expect a rebound except China where growth will slow. Global growth will be driven by other developing nations, not just China. Comparing steel demand in 2015 with estimated figures for 2020, China’s 2015 figure of 672.3Mt will soar to 909.1Mt, India from 80.2Mt to 108.7Mt, and the USA from 96.1Mt to 101.2Mt. Japan will edge up slightly from 63Mt to 64.1Mt, Russia will move from 39.8Mt to 43.9Mt and Italy from 24.5Mt to 27.5Mt. Other nations’ steel demand figures are less impressive. South Korea will dip from 55.8Mt to 54.2Mt, Germany will be down from 39.1Mt to 37.8Mt and Turkey is likely to fall from 34.4Mt to 27.7Mt. Mexico, which recorded steel demand of almost 25Mt in 2015, falls out of the top 10, but is November/December 2019
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biggest driver of steel demand this year. In Russia there has been an upward trend and stronger than expected growth. Demand rose from 41.2Mt in 2018 to 43.2Mt in 2019 and an estimated 43.9Mt in 2020. In Brazil, steel demand rose from 21.2Mt in 2018 to 21.7Mt in 2019 and is estimated at 22.7Mt in 2020. Brazil’s recovery this year was disappointing and things were looking bad for Turkey where steel demand figures went in the wrong direction, from 30.6Mt in 2018 to 26.1Mt in 2019 and an estimated minor increase to 27.7Mt in 2020.
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Low growth gear Worldsteel believes that global steel demand will stay in a low growth gear. Current installed capacities are sufficient to meet demand, and global steel demand will remain resilient. However, politicallydriven uncertainties mean that there are significant downside risks going forward. That said, there is upside potential from government stimuli, the resolution of geo-political conflicts and an orderly Brexit. Trade tensions will have a lasting impact
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and there are mounting challenges in the long term. Economic growth and social equality In an economic discussion panel chaired by Dr. Edwin Basson, the conference brought together Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, CEO of Emirates Steel; John Ferriola, chairman, CEO and president of Nucor Corporation, Guillermo Vogel, vice-chairman of the board at Tenaris, and Gustavo Werneck Da Cuhna, CEO and president of Ternium. Vogel said that Mexico was on the road towards economic growth and social equality, but claimed that there had always been a lot of inequality in the south of the country. The north, he said, was always in a better position than the south. He argued that NAFTA had generated more inequality because investments were mainly concentrated in the north and middle regions of the country and that the south was forgotten, leading to increased regional inequality. Between 2013 and 2017 average GDP growth was 2.5%, dipping to 2% in 2018 and estimated at 0.5% for 2019 and beyond. Vogel cited mid-term public policy actions as fighting corruption, controlling government spending, sound fiscal and financial management, developing an infrastructure plan and an industrial policy designed to expand development, not to mention the implementation of a policy of well-being. Where the Mexican steel industry was concerned, Vogel said that he was proud of its work in the field of corporate social responsibility, something that was later reinforced on a plant tour for delegates to Ternium’s Roberto Rocca Technical School where this correspondent can vouch for how impressed he and other delegates were of the school’s facilities where 50% of students go on to higher education after three years of study at the school. There are 372 students of which 40% are girls and the school takes on 128 students every year. Vogel said that more than 14,000 people had benefited through programmes to care for the environment, social empowerment and entrepreneurship promotion. He said that important resources had been allocated to improve road infrastructure, rehabilitation of public spaces and educational sports and cultural centres, even clinics offering free consultations. According to Vogel, more than www.steeltimesint.com
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6,000 scholarships had been awarded to young Mexican students and that 20,000 children had benefited through the installation of schools and comprehensive development programmes. A further 16,000 people have been supported by selfemployment programmes. Mexico, said Vogel, is the 14th largest steel producer in the world and has a strong focus on the environment with CO2 emissions below the world average. According to Vogel, 30% of water used in steel production is recycled. The Mexican steel industry, he said, was the first consumer of natural gas and the third consumer of electrical energy and employed 672,000 people directly and indirectly. A difficult year That said, it’s been a difficult year for the Mexican steel industry. Construction was badly hit and is down 4-5% while automotive production is down 0.7% and remains stagnant. US exports to Mexico represent 13% of domestic consumption whereas Mexican exports to the USA represented 2% of US consumption in July 2019, 1% less than in May 2018. Gustavo Werneck da Cunha, Ternium SA’s CEO and president, said that the post 2010 period in Brazil was marked by a new economic matrix with negative implications for GDP growth in Brazil. In 2015 it was -3.55% and in 2016 -3.31%, rising to 1.07% in 2017, 1.12% in 2018 and 0.90% in 2019. In Q2 2019 it grew 1% and the estimated figure for 2020 is 1.80%. Werneck said that steel consumption was directly correlated with economic growth and highlighted planned tax, pension, administrative and macroeconomic reforms in Brazil as well as trade openings and privatisations. He said that shipments of steel still lagged behind historical peaks, but claimed that activity was improving and there was strong potential for consumption growth despite the wide gap in apparent steel consumption when compared to the global average and the USA. “So there is still room to grow,” he said, adding that emerging countries like Brazil use large volumes of steel to support
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growth. Asked what he thought should happen to the get the US economy to grow faster, Nucor’s John Ferriola commented: “It’s a very complicated question and a very complicated situation today. In the US there’s a lot of uncertainty which isn’t good for the markets. There’s a lot of doom and gloom, but frankly what we see is that pricing has been challenged, but demand is relatively strong. “We see relatively strong demand in the construction markets, certainly residential is down, but infrastructure is up and nonresidential is up, but automotive is down and was not as good as 2018.” Ferriola felt pretty good ‘about where we are today’ and that, going forward, it was challenging to predict what would happen in 2020, an election year. It would be very interesting as there was so much political strife. “The US economy is good and we have the lowest unemployment rate for some time,” he added. US infrastructure – in a bad way Ferriola said that infrastructure in the US was in an horrific condition. “We need a huge infrastructure bill to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure,” he said, highlighting the poor state of some of the USA’s 550,000 bridges. “After the election you’ll see a major infrastructure bill. What happens with the USMCA will be a key factor,” he added, prompting speculation that it might be signed before the year-end. Vogel commented: “This year construction is below 5% [in Mexico] and a lot of public sector investment has been virtually frozen,” he said, but there is going to be a lot of infrastructure derived from energy. Vogel said that pipeline investment was needed and argued that drilling was a positive element for steel consumption in Mexico. He predicted there would be strong activity in pipelines. In Brazil, the biggest problem was infrastructure and the question of funding. That’s why privatisation was important, said Werneck da Cunha. “You hear about consumers struggling and the economy slowing from 2.9% to 2.3%. I look at consumers and consumption and the fact that Q2 spending is up 5% annualised, so despite the negativity I’m fairly optimistic,” said Ferriola. He said that growth in China was domestically-driven so the effect on the rest of the world would be negligible. � November/December 2019
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WORLDSTEEL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019
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Climate change and competition 1. Delegates enjoy the conference 2. Brian Aranha, ArcelorMittal 3. David Hone, Shell International 4. Peter Levi, IEA
1 How does the steel industry remain competitive in a world challenged by climate change? Now there’s a big question, even if steel is the ideal material for a low carbon economy. ANOTHER big topic tackled by the conference was the environment and technology. The big question was how does the steel industry remain competitive in a world challenged by climate change? It was argued that steel is the ideal material for a low carbon economy, that it was flexible, durable, recyclable and reusable. In other words, it has a future in society in terms of its carbon footprint. For Brian Aranha, vice president, head of strategy and chief technology officer at ArcelorMittal, the problem is the iron ore element of the steel production process. He said that the Paris Accord was calling for carbon neutrality by 2050, but that the amount of scrap generation was insufficient to support the demand. “If we do nothing, carbon emissions will go up,” he said, adding that ‘those things we can do incrementally won’t get us there’. “They might get us to 10-15%, but that’s all. A breakthrough technology is needed,” he said. Low-emission steelmaking Aranha believes that low emission steelmaking is possible and he said that www.steeltimesint.com
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2 ArcelorMittal is committed to the Paris Accord, but that there was no silver bullet for low emission steelmaking. He highlighted three possible sources of energy:1. Circular carbon including bio-based/ plastic wastes from municipal and industrial sources and agricultural and forestry residues. 2. Fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage (CCS) to transform existing iron and steelmaking processes into low emissions pathways. 3. Clean power to fuel hydrogen-based ironmaking, direct electrolysis ironmaking and to contribute to other low emissions technologies. ArcelorMittal is working on all three, but claims that they are all much more expensive than existing methods and will require some form of public support. First, a mechanism is needed to create a level playing field in order to prevent competitive advantage for steelmakers not paying for the higher structural costs of a low-emission transition. A level playing field will also prevent higher emissions
4 steel imports into a market with a price on carbon. Aranha believes that a level playing field is a prerequisite for global CO2 emissions reduction from steelmaking. He also believes that access must be given to sufficient and affordable clean energy; and that means large quantities of renewable electricity for low emissions steelmaking and sustainable sources of biomass for iron ore reduction. Furthermore, without sufficient funding, it will be impossible to gain access to sufficient and affordable clean energy. Likewise, without policy support, progress won’t be made. “If there is some policy support, but the field is not level, it’s not going to be implemented either,” he said, adding that global coordination means it will take off at a higher speed. Without a global framework, it will be impossible to achieve the goals of the Paris Accord. Aranha said that momentum on climate change has been growing since 2015 and that customers will demand detailed information on where their suppliers are sourcing raw materials and how they are producing their products. “Customers of the steel industry, all November/December 2019
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kinds of consumers of steel, including big names like Toyota, “are getting smarter with the questions they’re asking us,” Aranha said, adding that different questions make it complicated for the steel industry. “The mining industry has come up with standards customers respect, similarly aluminium, and now it’s up to us in the steel industry to do something similar,” he said. Aranha said that one standard was needed and was currently under development. The new standard would be ready by the year-end. He said that steel made from iron ore will exist into the future and that low emissions steelmaking was both desirable and possible. David Hone, chief climate change advisor for Shell International, highlighted the company’s Sky scenario, which illustrates ‘a technically possible but challenging pathway for society to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement’. He said that Sky relies upon use scenarios to look at how the energy system might evolve. “We were challenged to look at how the energy system might respond. The Paris Agreement sets out a very ambitious pathway for the world and significant momentum is building behind it,” he said. The central aim of the Paris Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels; and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to Hone, the energy system as it is today is 80% fossil fuel-based and that’s been the case for more than the last 30 years. “If you transfer that into final energy then steel is one of the energy services, not the largest, but still significant,” he said. Hone argued that in terms of energy demand ‘we don’t see a plateau’. He believes that coal remains an imperative
and is used in almost every country as the fuel behind electricity generation. There are, however, lots of technologies sitting on the table and waiting to be applied. One is carbon capture and storage (CCS) which is not progressing at the rate today to see a change. Time, said Hone, is not our friend. How to reach net zero To reach net zero, said Hone, we have to remove an equivalent amount from the atmosphere. The Sky scenario outlines six big steps forward from now until 2070, illustrating the interplay of technical innovation, public policy, market forces and human behaviour. Here are those six steps:1. Efficiency improves continuously. 2. Product substitution plays a role. 3. From 2020 onwards there is a continuous electrification of light and then heavy industry. 4. From 2030 CCS first appears in heavy industry and then scales rapidly. 5. After 2050 hydrogen scales rapidly in heavy industry, eventually backing out some CCS. 6. Remote sinks, such as BECCS (Bio Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage), play some role for industry in the second half of the century. For further information, visit www.shell.com/skyscenario A flying visit International Energy Authority (IEA) analyst Peter Levi quite literally paid a flying visit to the conference having flown in from Paris on the day of his presentation (14 October) and then flying back the following day. Levi was in town – blink and you would definitely have missed him – to discuss a road map analysing sustainable transition pathways for steelmaking. The IEA intends to publish details early next year. According to Levi, the IEA looks at big energy and emissions trends. He said that
2018 was a stand-out year. Global energy demand grew by 2.3%, the fastest pace this decade, and was driven by a robust global economy, unseasonal weather and moderate energy prices. Levi said that fossil fuel-based growth had significant consequences for emissions, and that a worrying trend of emissions growth, if continued, means that 2050 targets won’t be reached. He said that the sustainable development scenario trajectory will mean a peak in emissions as soon as possible and a trajectory towards net zero emissions from the energy system in the second half of the century. Vital to the global economy Steel, Levi said, remains vital to the global economy, but strong declines in the emissions intensity of steel production are needed to meet climate goals. Despite rising steel demand, emissions intensity remains flat, which, he said, was encouraging. “We anticipate that between 70-90% is needed relative to today. To achieve these kinds of goals by mid-century, a lot of research and development is required and is underway. Here’s five more things we learned from Peter Levi’s presentation: 1. The hydrogen based DRI-EAF route is between 10-90% more costly than its natural gas-based counterpart and is highly sensitive to the cost of electricity. 2. The declining costs of solar PV and wind power could make them a low-cost source for hydrogen production in regions with favourable resource conditions. 3. Not every region has access to lowcost renewable electricity. 4. Electrolylsis projects have expanded in Europe, but have much less potential to produce clean hydrogen than two CCUS projects. 5. By 2030 the hydrogen requirement for the DRI-EAF route could more than double. By 2050 the use of this method for all primary production could lead to a 15fold increase in hydrogen demand. �
CONCLUSIONS 1. Material and energy efficiency are critical to get the ball rolling, but in the medium to long term,innovative low CO2 steelmaking technologies will be required. 2. Breakthrough technologies, however, are no silver bullet. Multiple companies are looking at multiple options. 3. Cross sectoral collaboration is important. 4. Stable policy support to unlock investment in research and development and technology diffusion are a pre-requisite to accelerating the transition. 5. The IEA is looking at all of these things and developing a Global Iron and Steel Roadmap to analyse sustainable transition pathways for steelmaking. Planned release is Q1 2020.
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The rise of smart cities
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We’ve all heard of smart phones, but what about smart cities and smart cars? There’s a lot to discuss...
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1. AK Steel’s Roger Newport chairs the session on smart cities
3. Chris Choa of AECOM
2. Carla Bailo of CA
4. Pascal Eveillard of Saint Gobain
DAY one of the conference closed with an interesting session on so-called ‘smart cities’, chaired by Roger Newport, CEO of AK Steel. Carla Bailo of the Centre for Automotive Research (CAR), a non-profit automotive think tank, spoke of electric vehicles (EVs) and ‘connected’ autonomous vehicles and the need to consider global harmonisation. She discussed fuel economy standards and how automakers in the USA want one standard across all 50 states. And while big changes are afoot in the world of automotive, issues such as lightweighting won’t go away with the introduction of EVs or AVs because the batteries in EVs are extremely heavy. With autonomous vehicles, the need for long range radar, ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, interior and exterior cameras, and LIDAR (Light Detecting and Ranging) will spearhead major changes in the materials used to manufacture cars. Steel, said Bailo, has huge advantages over other materials because of its strength and durability and the fact that steel is not only very strong, durable and sustainable, but also a trusted material available in www.steeltimesint.com
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a wide variety of different grades. She said that steel will remain the dominant structure between 2020 and 2040, but after that might decrease by around 20%. She said that aluminium represented the biggest challenge for steel as it pushed full recyclability and was developing new and improved grades, extrusion and casting applications. Smart mobility Looking ahead, Bailo said ‘smart mobility’ will result in the safe movement of people and reduce day-to-day stress. “Everybody has to feel safe,” she said, explaining how ‘we’re morphing into a world of mobility services’ characterised by new services, new vehicle concepts, new functionalities, new ownership models and new business partnerships. The future of mobility, she said, was automated, connected, electric and shared. From smart cars to smart cities and a presentation from Christopher Choa of AECOM. He described himself as an architect and urban planner and claimed that cities were becoming more important
4 than nations. Choa argued that with more and more people living in cities we have to care about those cities. “We tend to measure everything at the national level, but we’ll start measuring at the city/regional level in future,” he said, adding that a lot of people assume that ‘smart cities’ have a lot to do with technologies. “I would say smart cities are more about an idea and how to achieve an outcome,” he said, adding that every city is looking to find an edge and that ‘smart government’ is using open source technology to guide their own management. Pascal Eveillard, director of sustainable construction for Saint-Gobain, added that 70% of the population will live in cities in the future, bringing to the fore the importance of ‘livability’ and social inclusion. He said that buildings have a huge impact on the environment accounting for 33% of energy consumption and 39% of greenhouse gases. “Buildings are impacting people too and they must November/December 2019
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adapt to changing climate conditions,” he said. Eveillard said there were great opportunities for the steel industry in terms of the provision of light weight constructions and extensions, produced offsite and creating a ‘city over the city’. “But do not underestimate concrete and wood,” he said, posing a big question for delegates: will wood replace concrete and steel? “The world is never black and white, it’s a question of nuances,” he added. After an excellent Annual Dinner and Steelie Awards at the Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza, delegates returned to the Quinta Real for the last session of the conference, which again focused on the automotive sector with presentations from Alexander W Wehr, president and CEO of BMW Latin America and John Caterall, executive director of the Auto/ Steel Partnership, Centre for Automotive Research (CAR). A brief word about the Steelie Awards: Tata Steel won three out of six, for excellence in communications, life cycle assessment and communications programmes. POSCO won Innovation of the Year for development of inkjet-printed steel and its manufacturing technology, and ArcelorMittal excelled in sustainability with its Climate Action Report. Ternium walked away with the Excellence in Education and Training award for the Roberto Rocca Technical School in Pesqueria and Journalist of the Year went to Paul Lim of Fastmarkets. A good time was had by all. Getting back to the final session of the conference, Alexander W Wehr said that worldwide revenues for BMW hovered around 100 billion Euros and that in Latin America the company employed 5,000 people. He outlined the company’s business units of automotive, motorcycles, financial and mobility services and listed the trends and megatrends of the moment as being the environment, sustainability, urbanisation, economics, digitalisation and mega cities. According to Wehr, 70% of the population will live in cities by 2050 and that, currently 30% of the city’s total CO2 emissions were primarily caused by traffic and that 1.25 million deaths globally were the result of road traffic accidents. Climate challenges ahead He told delegates that there were a lot of climate challenges ahead and that November/December 2019
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Welcome to Shanghai 2020! Dr. Yu Yong, chairman of HBIS Group closed the conference by welcoming delegates to Shanghai for the World Steel Association General Assembly 2020.
Speaking through a translator, Dr. Yong said that ‘economic entities developing quickly always have a fastgrowing steel industry’. “I want to thank worldsteel and all colleagues in the industry as the rapid growth of China is part and parcel of us opening up. Japan, POSCO and some steel companies in Europe have provided great support to the growth of China’s steel industry. As the biggest producer and consumer of steel in the world, what can China do for the world? How can we pay back the steel industry of the world for the help it’s given us? We are currently going through changes, a rapid growth phase moving from quantity to quality, trying to shrink capacity. The Chinese government and steel industry are paying a lot of attention to the environment. We must think about the people of the planet when we think of our own development, we’ll focus more and more on green production and recycling and if I were to say what can the steel industry in China do for the world it would be green production, intelligent production and clean energy because as the biggest steel producing country in the world we autonomous driving will open up new opportunities for all concerned. He said that 8-10% of car sales in Mexico City were electric or hybrid and that there were more charging points in the city than in Munich. John Catterall said that autonomous vehicles were ‘coming but coming slowly’ and spoke of a requirement for higher durability levels due to the multi-purpose nature of the vehicles and a utilisation rate of 85-90%. “Steel can be of help here,” he said, claiming that steel’s recyclability and the fact that it comes off well in a total lifecycle analysis was a ‘big benefit’. Steel’s problem, said Catterall, was that it doesn’t have a natural cheerleader. “You’ve got to get out there and tell them what you
should be reducing emissions, we have subsidiaries that meet environmental standards. I believe in terms of future carbon emissions we will continue to have new innovations, but to look forward I should say that my company and China’s steel industry are going to take the right course to make this planet a greener place; we will assume the greatest responsibility.” can do for them. Go to the OEMS,” he said because 25% of electric vehicles are likely to use aluminium as a core material, not steel. “If you don’t want that 25% figure to rise higher you need to get out and tell them the benefits of steel.” Caterall said that the doubling of aluminium usage in automotive will be mostly due to closures switching to the so-called ‘miracle metal’ between 2020 and 2040. He said that steel will remain the dominant structural material. “However, the grades of steel will shift to high strength and high formability such as Gen-3,” he said. Some hot-stamped steels might be replaced by cold-stamped Gen-3 steels,” he added. � www.steeltimesint.com
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PROFILE: PESMEL
In-mill logistics and steel
With the advent of digital manufacturing, in-mill logistics systems have become much more sophisticated leading to greater plant efficiencies, improved capacities and greater product quality. Matthew Moggridge* meets Tony Leikas, CEO of the Finnish company Pesmel
PESMEL of Finland specialises in mill logistics and provides fully automated systems for the moving, storing, buffering, sorting and despatching of steel coils and sheets, said Tony Leikas. He claims that the steel industry is keeping his company very busy and that the future is looking reasonably bright, considering the recent imposition of protective import duties and trade barriers. Trade issues aside, however, he claims the business is active on the global stage, predominantly in the steel and paper industries, with customers in Asia, India and China firmly in the company’s spotlight. Leikas joined the business direct from engineering school back in 1997 and has
been with the company for 20 years. Last year Pesmel celebrated its 40th anniversary. “It has changed considerably during this time,” he said, explaining how his background is in machine automation, but he moved around within the company working as chief designer and in customer intervention and concept development before getting heavily involved in sales, especially to mainland China and Taiwan. In the early days a lot of Pesmel’s customers in China were western companies, but today it deals direct with Chinese and Taiwanese steelmakers as well as the USA, India and Europe. Up until his appointment as Pesmel’s CEO, Leikas worked his way through all
aspects of the business and is, therefore, ideally suited for the top job. In the early days, Pesmel wasn’t the kind of company that produced brochures outlining exactly what it had to offer. “We developed everything the customer wanted,” he said, explaining how the business was active in many different sectors as a result. But Leikas spotted potential for the company to hone its skills in one particular area: heavy industry. “The thinking was simple: create a clear strategy and a clear focus and the end result was a decision to concentrate our efforts on what we’re good at – internal logistics and highly automated packaging lines – and then place the focus on ICT,” Leikas said.
* Editor, Steel Times International November/December 2019
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PROFILE: PESMEL
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You don’t need to be an engineer to operate these machines anymore,” he said, likening the situation to the arrival of mobile phones and how, in the early days, there were huge operators’ manuals, but today everything is much more user friendly.
”
Pesmel established its own ICT department around 10 years ago and today it is the biggest part of the business. The company has since harnessed the potential of Industry 4.0 and digital manufacturing through the prism of ‘material flow how’, a clever catchphrase the encapsulates the backbone of Pesmel’s business. “Material ‘flow how’ is our core competence and has been our primary focus from the outset,” said Tony. “Material flow how is something which is always unique and customised and if we think about the way the world is going, everyone of us wants to be a unique individual. We see it with mobile phones: everybody wants to have their own apps and soon I think we will be able to create our own apps, who knows where things are www.steeltimesint.com
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heading?” Leikas enthuses about ‘clever’ software and believes that the advent of Industry 4.0 – the fourth industrial revolution – will continue to open up all sorts of possibilities in the field of in-mill logistics. While he says there are certain similarities between one element of an in-mill logistics system and another, there are unique aspects too as ‘each customer wants to build in their own competitive advantage’. Typically, it is the software that makes the difference. For Pesmel, identifying the similarities is crucial in the development of an in-mill logistics system because the process is complex and it is important to make the distinction between the run-of-the-mill and the more customised elements of the project. There is, therefore, a fine-tuning process at work
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and that gives Pesmel’s customers a muchdesired competitive edge. The two main industries served by Pesmel are steel and paper. Leikas said that 70% of the company’s business comes from steel with paper accounting for the remaining 30%. “And I’m happy with that,” he added, pointing out that the paper industry was at the forefront of in-mill logistics 15-20 years before the metals industry, honing Pesmel’s skills in system development in preparation for the metals industries. Paper mills, he said, run 360 days of the year with just five days allotted to maintenance, an intensity that prepared Pesmel for the steel industry and Finnish steelmaker Outokumpu, its first customer. Pesmel first connected with Outokumpu in the early nineties and has established a strong relationship ever since. It’s a relationship that is ongoing as it involves periodic maintenance through Pesmel’s Flow Care programme, and there are plenty of small upgrades as systems change and new ones are developed. Leikas says that frequency drives and converters are the most common elements of the system that need to be changed. The computers are changed every five to 10 years. “And then, of course, the logic, but not so often, every 20 years, perhaps, it depends on how much you’re running,” he said, adding that the PLC is changed roughly every 15 years. “Some customers have their own servers and we can put our stuff there and they take care of the hardware,” he said, mentioning that Outokumpu had recently changed its wrapping machines. There is, he said, a continual upgrading programme in progress. Once a Pesmel in-mill logistics system has been installed, tweaking follows. “We have good relationships with our customers. It takes a lot of work to get the first project off the ground and then establish trust, but it helps us to show good references,” said Leikas. While Pesmel has established some serious relationships in the steel industry – the company is currently working with JSW Steel and Tata Steel in India – the company acknowledges that it is still a relative newcomer to the metals industry and unknown to most steelmakers. “Outokumpu gave us the chance to show our capabilities and to say ‘this is what we do’,” said Leikas, name-checking SSAB, another Scandinavian steel business, and November/December 2019
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Tata Steel Europe, formerly Corus. “And with those references we have started to market ourselves heavily in Asia and the USA,” he said, mentioning contracts with Baosteel in China and acknowledging that the hard work is beginning to pay off. Leikas believes that Pesmel has reached around 30% of potential steel industry customers and that the other 70% are still to be made aware of the company’s in-mill logistics capabilities. As for how much of the steel industry has yet to embrace automation, Leikas says
local regulations and there are issues surrounding transfer pricing and taxation, according to Leikas. In both countries, Pesmel has set up local companies so they can conduct domestic business using local currency. Pesmel’s core customer base is focused on cold rolling mills with big annealing and painting lines and a minimum capacity of around 500kt/yr, but also high-volume service centres operating highly automated machinery. “We’re mainly working at the high end,” said Leikas.
there is still a lot of work to do. “I would say very close to the same percentages,” he said. While Leikas claims that Pesmel has a lot to offer, he is very much aware of the geopolitical stresses that are currently blighting global steelmaking. He has said in past interviews that the future is ‘reasonably bright,’ alluding to the negative effects of tariffs and trade wars, and freely acknowledges his concern. However, he believes that steel’s infinite recyclability means it has a great future and possibly greater stability when compared with today’s geopolitical tensions. Both paper and steel are huge industries, according to Leikas, and key markets for the company.
Pesmel has been working in areas now broadly described as Industry 4.0 for around 10 years. According to Leikas, digital manufacturing is relatively new to the steel industry. He recalled a Swedish company that wanted a system capable of pinpointing potential logistical bottlenecks, which Pesmel developed using ‘very intelligent software’. “They wanted to know all the time when they had bottlenecks, so the system was constantly collecting data and then giving them advice on how to optimise these sequences. We did this kind of collection more than 10 years ago and have since built different areas, and today it’s becoming a standard function of our machines. We collect the data from the normal sensors and have put in others which are sensing if the machine is running smoothly or if there is an unusual vibration, that kind of thing, and giving the feedback and the pre-warnings,” Leikas explained. According to Leikas, as technology has become more sophisticated, it has also dramatically improved in terms of the
Challenges Operating in China and India can present many challenges for businesses like Pesmel. Hiring people to work on the ground in China, for example, can be difficult and complicated because of many November/December 2019
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human/machine interface and overall user-friendliness. “You don’t need to be an engineer to operate these machines anymore,” he said, likening the situation to the arrival of mobile phones and how, in the early days, there were huge operators’ manuals, but today everything is much more user friendly. “Nowadays when you get your mobile phone there is no manual and the same has happened with complex automation systems,” said Leikas. Installing complex automation systems is challenging. “It’s a bit like a building project where you are building everything and you’re still putting the software into it and everybody needs to work in the same team and on schedule,” he said, explaining how simulation models aid the process. Generally speaking, the pre-work involved in the development of an automation system can take between one and three years prior to finalising the contract. “And during that time we have completed the simulation model, which helps us to talk and discuss the project with the customer. Let’s say that from the first discussions to the contract takes one to three years and then, of course, there’s the delivery. For a big project, it’s normally one and a half to two years, it’s a five-year span from the word go,” he said, adding that Pesmel’s first Baosteel project spanned an eight-year period. Once an automation system is up and running, Pesmel moves on to the next one, but remains involved with existing customers in terms of servicing and general mill support. At the moment, 90% of revenue is from building systems with 10% accounted for by servicing and support. Leikas believes the latter will increase to 20% as the company develops more sophisticated software. Pesmel has its own local service organisations in India, China and the USA, Pesmel and offers its customers a 24/7 helpline manned by engineers. According to Leikas, most customers are satisfied with the level of servicing/support they receive. In-mill logistics is Pesmel’s speciality. The company’s USP is combining ICT with traditional machine making. Leikas says that steelmakers rely upon sophisticated in-mill logistics systems to help them achieve greater capacities, enhanced efficiency and higher quality end products as well as being better placed to manage change. “Our systems provide these kind of possibilities,” Leikas concluded. � www.steeltimesint.com
21/11/2019 11:04:30
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Smart cranes by Konecranes
Combilift’s founder and CEO Martin McVicar (centre)
Combilift wins Design4Safety Award Combilift has won the industrial vehicles category of this year’s British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) Design4Safety Awards. The company claims that its reputation for designing innovative products and features to enhance safety in the materials handling sector was underlined once again with the success of its patented multi-position tiller arm, which is a feature common to all its pedestrian models. Combilift’s CEO and co-founder Martin McVicar accepted the trophy from BITA secretary James Clark during this year’s Logistics Awards which took place on 26 September. “We are very proud to be the winners of such an important award as safety is a crucial issue in our industry. Following the FLTA Safety award we received for the Combi-PPT earlier in the year, this highlights the fact that our product range is designed with the utmost safety in mind - not just for operators, but for all employees who work with or in the vicinity of forklifts and industrial vehicles.” Combilift claims that its ‘unique’ multi-position tiller enables push-button rotation of the rear wheel parallel to the chassis and back, allowing the operator to remain in the safest possible position when placing and picking in narrow aisles; at the side of the unit rather than behind it. This reduces the risk of the operator being crushed or trapped between the truck and racking and the excellent visibility reduces the risks of accidents involving other personnel. Originally designed for the Combi-WR reach stacker, the tiller arm is now incorporated on Combilift’s ever-growing range of pedestrian models such as the multi-directional Combi-WR4, the Combi-CS counterbalance stacker and the Combi-PPT powered pallet truck.
Konecranes has three new lifting products aimed at industrial customers in a broad range of sectors, including general manufacturing, automotive and various process industries. The S-, C- and M-series, claims the company, represent the next generation of Konecranes’ products, bringing new technology and innovation to areas including motor drives, rope, reeving systems, clutches and brakes to deliver safer equipment which performs better, lasts longer and delivers greater operational savings. According to Konecranes, all new S- and M-series cranes are equipped with sensors and the capability to collect and send data. Every customer purchasing an S- or M-series crane will have access to the ‘yourKONECRANES’ portal, which is a digital service for operators, technicians and management, allowing customers to take full advantage of their crane. Konecranes has a total of 20 patents, either awarded or pending, for the three new series of products. “These capabilities reflect Konecranes’ investment in the growing opportunities of data. The company has established a data science laboratory in Lyon, France, as part of its continuing drive to digitalise products, services, and operations,” the company claims. Konecranes has 21,500 connected cranes across the world and digital lifecycle records from over 1.1 million customer assets. The new products feature improved component design and materials, in keeping with Konecranes’ goal of significantly reducing the environmental impact of products throughout their life span. A strong focus on component durability and predictive maintenance reflects the company’s commitment to helping customers achieve the highest lifecycle value of their equipment.
The S-Series The S-series overhead crane is claimed to set new standards with innovative features, including variable speed control for all movements and adaptive speed range, which adjusts the maximum lifting speed to the weight of the load for safer and more productive use. A new synthetic rope, with a revolutionary reeving arrangement, reduces wheel load impact by up to 45%. It also incorporates Konecranes’ smart features, such as ‘follow me’, ‘hook centre’ and ‘snag prevention’, which improve operational safety. The S-series also has access to the ‘yourKONECRANES’ customer portal
and value-added digital services, including Konecranes’ leading crane usage and operating data platform, TRUCONNECT.
The M-Series The M-series crane represents a new dimension in heavy lifting, featuring Konecranes’ most compact and modular heavy-duty winch. With high-performing and reliable ‘core of lifting’ components and modular design, it can easily be configured to meet the needs of various production processes. A new approach to the winch’s component layout and machinery support system is said to eliminate alignment errors that may occur in traditional winches. Smart features and state-of-the-art user interfaces, including a ‘remote operating station’ are available to increase productivity and maximise safety.
The C-SERIES electric chain hoist The new C-series is Konecranes’ most advanced electrical chain hoist to date. Built with robust, precise and reliable ‘core of lifting’ components, the hoist now features a redesigned motor cooling system, which offers up to 50% longer runtime versus the previous generation and a brake designed for over a million operations. Safety features such as operating limit switch and safety clutch have been enhanced for improved performance and reliability.
For further information, log on to www.combilift.com For further information, log on to www.konecranes.co.uk November/December
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Modulift products driven by customer demand Global engineering company Modulift has developed new equipment to make life easier for the heavy lifting industry. Alongside offering specialist technical expertise, the UK-based company manufactures lifting and spreader beams, spreader frames and other ‘between the hook and the load’ lifting equipment, that is used globally across sectors including wind energy, nuclear, construction, and the oil and gas industries. The new products, now available, are the Modulift adjustable modular lifting beam and the Modulift trunnion drop link. They’ve both been designed as standard products, so they are ready to order and, claims the company, save time and money. Modulift’s adjustable modular lifting beam is claimed to offer the same flexibility and cost-effective benefits as the premium Modulift spreader beams, but has multiple pad eyes, so the beam can adapt to lift various weights and sizes. According to Modulift, the main benefits are: • Available in a series of three: Light (up to 50t), Medium (up to 170t) and Heavy (up to 240t) • Order any length from 1m upwards and
add to your beam as required to achieve spans of up to 19m • Use as a lifting beam or a semi-spreader beam • Modular system reduces transport costs as longest component length is 6m • Reduced handling requirements
Modulift trunnion Drop Link The Modulift trunnion drop link is described as an alternative trunnion option that can be easily and quickly attached to a sling. The main benefits are: • Requires only one top shackle, not two, thus enabling safer and quicker sling attachment, saving time and money • Compatible with Modulift spreader beams from MOD6 up to MOD110 with a capacity of up to 55t • Works with flat webbing slings up to the MOD50 and wire rope and synthetic slings up to the MOD110. Sue Spencer, Modulift’s technical director, said: ”We invite everyone, both inside and outside our company, to come up with good ideas for new products – we then start developing the best and the most beneficial.
“Our standard lifting beam is already a brilliant product, so we thought the only way to make it better was to make it adjustable. Lots of our customers have different requirements to move a variety of fixed-sized objects like metal skids – so rather than have lots of different sized beams, they can just have one that is size-adjustable. This is so much more efficient for our clients,” she said. “With the trunnion drop link, we responded to a request from our customer, RRS Group. It already had our beams and wanted compatible drop links. It’s so much easier to attach trunnion drop links, especially for really heavy lifts, so it was an easy decision to not just make them for one customer, but to add them to our range, Spencer said.” Kevin Crockford from the lifting and transportation company, RRS Group said: “We purchased a set of trunnions from Modulift to meet a customer requirement. From the early stages of design, through to production and then delivery, Modulift was very helpful and always kept us informed of the status of the project.” For further information, log on to www.modulift.com
Electric forklifts are the future, says Doosan Doosan has introduced an electric counterbalance four-wheel forklift and claims that it offers greater durability, enhanced productivity, increased visibility and an extensive range of safety features as standard. The B45X-7 range offers four models covering a capacity range of between 4.0 and 5.0 tonnes and is claimed to be suitable for a range of applications including manufacturing, engineering and warehousing. Doosan claims that the versatility of electric power is now available in a durable and reliable vehicle, built for working long shifts outdoors in wet or dusty conditions, making it a viable alternative to increasingly regulated IC Engine equivalents. The B45X-7 range, says Doosan, has a tighter turning cycle than its predecessor, smooth and responsive acceleration, and a conveniently placed direction switch on the hydraulic control level for switching direction of travel quickly and easily. Prominent safety features include anti-roll back for preventing accidental movement when stopped on a slope; automatic speed control that adjusts the travel speed for safer cornering, and an operator sensing system that immobilises the truck and locks all hydraulic functions when an operator leaves the cab. Other key safety features include a clearer view through the mast, an easily accessible emergency stop button on the dashboard, high visibility
driver’s safety belt, large entry step and grab handle for easy access, LED lights and an overhead guard-mounted flashing beacon. Brian Grady, sales and marketing director at Doosan Industrial Vehicle UK, commented: “Environmental legislation continues to get tighter and businesses will need to consider very carefully how they invest in their forklift truck
fleets going forward. Electric vehicles are certainly gaining ground in applications that were once considered only suitable for ic engine trucks – and there are tough electric trucks available now that can efficiently lift very heavy loads. But ic engine vehicles will still play a significant role for some time to come,” he said.
For further information, log on to www.doosan.com or www.doosanforklifts.co.uk
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Calcium carbide, not calcium metal The use of calcium carbide rather than calcium metal for inclusion modification of micro-alloyed steels has resulted in a less volatile reaction and hence less slopping in the vessel, as well as improving castability by modifying the melting point of inclusions and improving alloy yield by reduction of those having migrated to the slag. By A Visser*, J Bezler*, W Gross*, M Andersson**, L Gustavsson** and A Landström** THE results of the application of CalciPro® in over 3000 heats at SSAB Luleå is reported. This innovative cored wire containing nominally 47% Ca as calcium carbide is primarily used for control of inclusion morphology, but it also has a strong reducing effect on alloying elements lost to the slag. Due to its high melting and boiling temperatures, calcium carbide dissolves in the steel without causing much turbulence, which significantly reduces slopping and fuming, in contrast to cored wires containing metallic calcium. The product is very low in silicon and is therefore suitable for the treatment of Si-free steel grades. The deoxidising effect helps recovering (micro-) alloying elements such as niobium, titanium and manganese from the slag. In secondary metallurgy, calcium treatment is important to modify nonmetallic inclusions to assure castability and to optimise the properties of the steel. Therefore, it is essential to understand the process of formation of non-metallic inclusion and the influencing factors on their composition, mechanical properties, amount, size and distribution. When steels are deoxidised using aluminium, alumina inclusions are introduced (Fig 1) and also by reoxidation due to remaining oxygen [1]. Inclusions also originate from external sources such as the slag and refractories of the ladle lining, nozzles etc. [2,3]. The removal of inclusions mainly takes place in the ladle, the tundish and the continuous casting mould [4,5]. Due to their high melting point, the aluminium oxides are solid in the liquid metal bath and tend to cause clogging of the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) during
casting [6]. This can cause serious problems during continuous casting, which is why calcium is added to the steel, to modify the inclusions and secure castability, as well as optimised material properties. Sources of inclusions Oxygen has a much higher solubility in molten steel compared to solid steel. To reduce the oxygen content in the liquid metal and so prevent the formation of CO-bubbles during solidification, most steels are deoxidised with silicon and/or aluminium (Fig 1). Aluminium, in particular,
lowers the oxygen activity to a few ppm by reaction (Eq 1)[7]: 2[Al] + 3[O]
(Al2O3)
(Eq 1)
In a typical aluminium killed steel the alumina inclusions partly go into the slag, while the rest stays in the liquid metal. It should be considered, that inclusions also form during cooling and solidification of the steel, due to the decreasing solubility of elements such as Al, O and S. Therefore, even after Ca-treatment, the cast steel still contains a certain amount of Al2O3 and
Oxygen content (ppm) O O tot
C + O = CO
Fig 1. Oxygen content in the steel production process [2]
Si + 2O = SiO2
400
2Al + 3O = Al2O3
40 2
FeSi During tapping
Oxide composition
Time Al Deoxidation
Solidification
CaO [wt.-%]
Al2O3 [wt.-%]
Melting point [°C]
0
2570
C (CaO)
100
C3A
62 38
C12A7
48 52
1413
CA
35 65
1602
CA2
22 78
1762
CA8
8 92
1830
A (Al2O3) 0 100
2053
1539
Table 1. Melting points of calcium aluminates with different oxide compositions [11]
*AlzChem Trostberg GmbH, Germany; **SSAB EMEA AB, Sweden Contact: Dr-Albert-Frank-Str 32, 83308 Trostberg, Germany, Phone +49 8621 86-2273, Fax +49 8621 86-502273,e-mail anna.visser@alzchem.com www.steeltimesint.com
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140
1.0
Amount of liquid (mol)
CaAl12O19
Corundum
120
CaAl4O7
100
Corundum MnS Liquid
0.6
80
0.4
MnS
60 40
Slag-Liquid 0.2
20
CaS 0.0 1540
1500
1480
1460
1440
Ca(g/l) + O + xAl2O3(s)
CaO.xAl2O3(l) (2)
As shown in Table 1, calcium aluminates such as C3A, C12A7 and CA are liquid at Rolled MnS stringer in the rolling direction
As cast MnS segregated at grain boundaries
Al2O3 dendrites
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.6
0.4
0.7
0.3 0.2
0.8
1420
CaO
0.1
1.0 0.0 0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.0 Al2O3 0.9 1.0
mass fraction Fig 3. Calculated liquidus projection of the ternary Al2O3-CaO-CaS system °C [13]
casting temperature and thereby prevent nozzle clogging. Also those modified inclusions are ductile and deform similar to the steel during rolling. [6,7,11,12] Table 1 Compares the melting points of calcium aluminates with oxide compositions occurring in steels [11] Considering the solubility of sulphur in liquid calcium aluminates and the formation of CaS (Fig 3), the ‘modified Ca/Al ratio’ of oxides can be calculated by equation (Eq 3). [11] “Ca/Al” =
Ca - (S - 2) Al
[at. - %]
(Eq 3)
For stable casting the Ca/Al ratio measured in atomic %, should be greater than 0.4. If the ratio is greater than 0.8 CaO-rich calcium aluminates can cause erosion of alumina-based refractories such as the ladle slide gates [11]. Therefore, over-modification of Al2O3 inclusions due
to excessive addition of calcium should be avoided by keeping the Ca/Al oxide inclusion ratio below 0.8 [14,15]. Pretorius [16] states, that a Ca/Al-ratio of 0.8-1.7 measured in weight % is necessary to form completely liquid inclusions. This figure is equivalent to the prior mentioned ratio considering the transformation of weight % to atomic %. The addition of calcium reduces the size and number of manganese sulphide inclusions, which are soft and tend to form stringers during hot rolling, causing mechanical anisotropy of the steel. Ca reduces and modifies MnS by forming globular (Ca-Mn)S and CaS [9] (Fig 4). Thus, Ca-treatment improves the mechanical properties in the transvers and through thickness directions [12,17], as well as increasing resistance against hydrogen cracking [18]. Calcium transforms inclusions such as silicates and aluminium oxides into CaO-
Ca wire treated CaS-MnS ring formed around C12A7
Numerous broken angular crystals in the rolling direction
Fig 4. Modification of inclusions morphology by calcium treatment [19]
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0.7
0.9
Fig 2.Formation of inclusions during cooling and solidification in high-carbon steel [9]
Inclusion control with Ca Inclusions are partly removed by coagulation and flotation during secondary steelmaking. Solid inclusions can be removed more quickly from the steel melt due to their higher contact angles [10]. To prevent clogging and to control composition and morphology of the remaining inclusions, calcium is added to cause a modification according to (Eq 2).
0.8
0.4
Temperature (°C)
MnS, though it does not affect castability. In addition, these inclusions are normally very small depending on the cooling rate. Fig 2 shows the thermodynamic calculation of inclusion formation in an Al-killed and Ca-treated steel during cooling and solidification. [8,9]
0.9
0.3
0 1520
CaS 1.0
0.2 Fraction of phases in liquid (ppm)
CaS Slag-liquid CaAl4O7 CaAl12O19
0.8
0.0 0.1
Fig 5. Yields of Ca, Ti, Nb and Mn comparing CaFe- and CalciPro® treated heats
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8
8 Density
10
6
6
4
4
2
2 0
% % ,0% 63,0%70,0 77,0% 84,0%91,0% 98,0 56
% ,0% 64,0%72,0 80,0% 88,0% 6,0% 4,0% 9 10 Nb yield
56
Ti yield
Fig 6. Variation of the Ti-yield comparing heats treated with CaC2- and Ca-Fe-wire
Al2O3-SiO2 inclusions, often surrounded by sulphides [12,20]. These modified inclusions have a globular shape due to the effect of surface tension [21]. In addition, machinability can be improved by calcium treatment as a result of the formation of a protective film on the surface of the cutting tool [20]. Hayford [20] found that the calcium yield of Ca-treated steels, depended on the deoxidation level of the steel. The yield is lower, if the steel is not completely deoxidised, because calcium is then lost to the deoxidation process [18,20]. Comparison of Ca-Fe and CalciPro® The solubility of Ca in liquid steel is very low at approximately 100ppm at 1600°C and 1 atm pressure [22]. Moreover, the boiling temperature of Ca is 1484°C and therefore the vapour pressure of calcium at molten steel temperatures is very high. Thus, if pure, metallic calcium is injected into the steel bath, most of it escapes to the atmosphere under turbulent bath movement, while only small amounts dissolve in the liquid steel to react with oxide and sulphide inclusions. [11] To prevent this fast and violent evaporation, the calcium has to be injected deep into the steel bath where the ferrostatic pressure prevents the formation of Ca vapour [23]. The vapour pressure of calcium at 1600°C is very high and the published data vary (1.81 atm [20,23], 2.2 atm [24], 3.0 atm [25], 3.7 atm [26]). Perez [23] states the following formula (Eq 4) for the calculation of the vapour pressure related to temperature:
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Steelmaking VISSER Tim.indd 3
CaC2
12
10
0
% ,0% 64,0%72,0 80,0% 88,0% 6,0% 4,0% 9 10 CaFe
56
56
CaC2
12
Density
% % ,0% 63,0%70,0 77,0% 84,0%91,0% 98,0 CaFe
37
Fig 7. Variation of the Nb-yield comparing heats treated with CaC2- and Ca-Fe-wire
Coil data
CalciPro®
Ca-content (from CaC2) (%)
46.5 ± 1.5
C-content (%)
32 ± 1.5
Si-content (%)
0.4
Diameter (mm)
13
Steel sheet thickness (mm)
0.4
Filling content per metre g/m
180 ± 5
Filling material per coil (kg)
~ 850
Total coil weight (kg)
~1650
Table 2. Coil data of CalciPro® cored wire
logp°ca (in atm) = - 8920 - 1.39 logT +9.569
T
(Eq 4)
In the case of Ca-Fe cored wire, the filler material usually consists of a mixture of about 30% calcium and 70% iron. The iron is used to cool the Ca during the injection process in order to reach the lower part of the steel bath, where the ferrostatic pressure is high and the vaporisation of the Ca is delayed. In contrast to metallic calcium, technical calcium carbide has a much higher melting point of about 1900°C [27] and therefore does not melt or evaporate, but instead dissolves in the steel bath, where Ca reacts with dissolved oxygen and sulphur as well as with solid alumina inclusions. This results in less turbulence during treatment and helps to avoid problems such as splashing and smoke emission. Commercial application at SSAB Luleå At SSAB Luleå the Ca-treatment is conducted in the CAS-OB vessel with a heat size of about 125t. In former years, the Swedish steel producer used a 13mm Ca-Fe-wire for Ca-treatment of Si-free steel grades. It contained 28.5 ± 3.5 % metallic
calcium, which had caused problems due to smoke emission and turbulence which led to slopping. In 2017, SSAB Luleå conducted application tests with calcium carbide wire CalciPro®. The trials were successful, showing higher efficiency in Ca-treatment and less turbulence. Therefore, SSAB Luleå has been applying CalciPro® in the treatment of all Si-free steel grades since January 2018. Table 2 lists the coil data of CalciPro®, showing that CalciPro® has a 50% higher Ca-content of about 46.5 % Ca (only considering Ca from CaC2) compared to Ca-Fe-wire. In addition, the Ca content varies less in CalciPro®. The carbon-content of the filling material is taken into account by lowering the carbon level in the BOF. Thereby it is possible to treat all Si-free steel grades, of which, some have a maximum carbon content specification of 0.075%C. Regarding safety aspects, it was shown by J Wiener [27] that the steel sheet encasing the calcium carbide guarantees safe handling and long storage life. SSAB evaluated the results of more than 3000 CalciPro®-treated heats with about the same number of Ca-Fe-treated heats for micro-alloyed steels containing niobium and/or titanium. Those microalloying elements form very small nitrides and carbides, which stabilise the fine microstructure to provide a combination of high strength with good ductility [28]. The results show, that with CalciPro®treatment the Ca-yield is significantly higher (Fig 5) and varies less than with Ca-Fewire. While the Fe-content in Ca-Fe cored wire does not have any chemical value during treatment, the CaC2 also acts as a November/December 2019
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reducing agent. The injection of CaC2 cored wire leads to significantly higher yields of niobium, titanium and manganese, due to reduced losses to the slag as well as recovery of oxidised alloying elements from the slag (Fig 5). In addition, the alloying element yield varies less when using CalciPro®. Figs 6 and 7 show the distribution of the yield of the micro-alloying elements Ti and Nb, comparing CalciPro- and Ca-Fe-treatment. For the sufficient interpretation of the results it should be considered, that also the FeO-content in the slag influences the Ca-yield. Conclusion - The combination of higher Ca-content (47%) and higher Ca-yield when injecting CaC2 reduces wire consumption and treatment time by about 50% in contrast to using Ca-Fe-wire. - Due to the high melting and boiling point of CaC2, considerably less slopping and fuming occurs which result in greater safety compared to Ca-Fe- and Ca-wire. - The yields of Ti, Nb and Mn are significantly higher due to the reducing conditions created by calcium carbide. - The carbon-input can be calculated precisely due to the consistent yield of carbon. As an example, to achieve a Ca-content of 20 ppm in the tundish, an increase of the carbon content of just 100ppm can be expected. References [1] Zhang, L.; Thomas, B. G.; Wang, X.; Cai, K.: Evaluation and control of steel cleanliness – review; 85th Steelmaking Conference Proceedings, ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 2002, P. 431-452 [2] Björklund, L.: Thermodynamic aspects on inclusion composition and oxygen activity during ladle treatment; Doctoral thesis, Royal Institute of Technology, School of Industrial Engineering and Management, ISBN 978-91-7178-904-4, 2008 [3] Zhang, L.; Thomas, B. G.; Cai, K.; Cui, J.; Zhu, L.: Inclusion investigation during clean steel production at Baosteel; ISS Tech 2003, Conference Proceedings, Indianapolis, IN, USA, April.27-30, 2003, ISS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 2003, P. 141-156 [4] Holappa, L.: Recent achievements in iron and steel technology; Journal of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 52, 2, 2017, P. 159-167 [5] Sohn, H.Y.; Sridhar, S.: Descriptions of hightemperature metallurgical processes; published in Seetharaman, S.: Fundamentals of metallurgy; November/December 2019
Steelmaking VISSER Tim.indd 4
Woodhead Publishing, 2005 [6] Perez, J.: Inclusion control model in the ladle metallurgy furnace; Master thesis, 2012 [7] Sakalli, E.: Nozzle blockage in continuous casting of Al-killed SAE 1006 and SAE 1008 steel grades in Iskenderun iron and steel works; Master thesis, 2004 [8] You, D.; Michelic, S.; Presoly, P.; Liu, J.; Bernhard, C.: Modeling Inclusion Formation during Solidification of Steel: A Review; Metals, 7 (2017), P. 460 [9] Nurmi, S.; Louhenkilpi, S.; Holappa, L.: Thermodynamic evaluation of inclusions formation and behavior in steels during casting and solidification; Steel Res. Int. 2009, 80, P. 436–440 [10] Yang, G.; Wang, X.; Huang, F.; Yang, D.; Wei, P.; Hao, X.: Influence of calcium addition on inclusions in LCAK steel with ultralow sulfur content; Metallurgical and materials transactions B, Vol. 46B (2015), P. 145-154 [11] Lind, M.: Mechanism and kinetics of transformation of alumina inclusions in steel by calcium treatment; Doctoral thesis, Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2006 [12] Lis, T.: Modification of oxygen and sulfur inclusions in steel by calcium treatment; Metalurgija 48, 2 (2009) P. 95-98 [13] Ying, R.; Zhang, L.; Li, S.: Transient Evolution of Inclusions during Calcium Modification in Linepipe Steels; ISIJ International, Vol. 54 (2014), No. 12, P. 2772–2779 [14] Story, S. R.; Dhaka, R. K.; Molnar, M.; Mueller, S. C.; Runner, D. L.; Tomazin, C. C.: Inclusion analysis and control in advanced high strength and calcium-treated steel grades; Proceedings of the Clean Steel Conference 2018 [15] Story, S. R.; Asfahani, R. I.: Control of CaContaining Inclusions in Al-Killed Steel Grades; Iron and Steel Technology, October 2013, P. 86-99 [16] Pretorius, E. B.; Oltmann, H. G.; Schart, B. T.: An overview of steel cleanliness from an industry perspective; Nucor Steel Berkley, AISTech - Iron and Steel Technology Conference Proceedings 1,
2013, P. 993-1026 [17] Birat, J.-P.: Steel cleanliness and environmental metallurgy; Metallurgical Research & Technology, 113, 201 (2016) [18] Hayford, F.: Cleanliness assessment of steel bars produced from a high frequency induction furnace; Master Thesis, Division of Applied Process Metallurgy, Department Of Materials Science and Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 2011 [19] Crawford, G.P.: Wire injection of metallurgical powders into molten metal; Proceedings of the 6th International Ferroalloys Congress, Cape Town, Volume 1 (1992), P. 271-277 [20] Turkdogan, E. T.: Fundamentals of Steelmaking; The Institute of Materials (London, England), 1996, Chapter 9 [21] Abraham, S.; Bodnar, R.; Raines, J.: Inclusion engineering and the metallurgy of calcium treatment; AISTech 2013 [22] Miyashita, Y.; Nishikawa, K.: Tetsu To Hagane 55, P. 109, 1969; cited in Gmelin: Metallurgie des Eisens; 1978 [23] Ghosh, A.: Secondary steelmaking – principles and applications; CRC Press LLC, 2001 [24] Elliott, J. F.; Gleiser, M.; Ramakrishna, V.: Thermochemistry for Steelmaking; 2, Reading., Mass., 1963; cited in Gmelin: Metallurgie des Eisens; 1978 [25] Hartmann, H.; Schneider, R.: Z. Anorg. Allgem. Chem. 133; 29/45, 1924; cited in Gmelin: Metallurgie des Eisens; 1978 [26] Kubaschewski, O; Evans, E.: Metallurgical Thermochemistry; 2. Edition, Bd. 1, London, 1958; cited in Gmelin: Metallurgie des Eisens; 1978 [27] Wiener, J.; Brombauer, M.; Pissenberger, E.: A new method for inclusion modification using calcium carbide; AISTech 2016, Conference Proceedings, P. 1187-1198 [28] Hils, G.: Konzeption, Erzeugung, Verarbeitung und Charakterisierung eines mikrolegierten Stahls, Institut für Metallurgie der TU Clausthal, 2006
Abbreviations g Gaseous l Liquid s solid wt -% weight-% at-% atomic-% p pressure t temperature CAS-OB Composition Adjustment by Sealed argon bubbling and Oxygen Blowing BOF Basic oxygen furnace
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EAFs are raising the stakes While 2019 has been a somewhat challenging year for US electric arc furnace (EAF), or mini-mill, steelmakers – especially compared with the very strong year they had in 2018 – they are still faring better than their integrated producer counterparts. Myra Pinkham* reports THE EAF share of US raw steel production, which has been moving up steadily over the past few decades, is expected to see a significant increase over the next several years. This comes as several blast furnaces have been at least temporarily idled at the same time as a surge of US greenfield and brownfield EAF production capacity is slated to come online through 2022 with other investment projects possible beyond that. Another factor – one that is being further enabled by these investments – has been the inroads that EAF steelmakers are making into automotive and other high-end applications traditionally seen as integrated producer end-use markets. In fact, Christopher Plummer, managing director of Metal Strategies Inc., says that some producers, including Big River Steel, have plans for the appliance market. As has been the recent trend, a spokeswoman for Nucor Corp. says that EAFs will continue to advance in the quality of the steel products that they can make, moving up the value chain, and to keep expanding their product portfolios. She says that one example of this is Nucor Steel Arkansas’ new specialty cold mill that came online late October, which, she says has the flexibility to be a low cost producer of “the steels of today,” while being able to, within minutes, switch to another mode that enables it to make “the high strength steels of tomorrow.” Philip Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, says this is consistent with the recent trend of steelmakers, including EAF steelmakers, coming to the realisation that they need to invest capital to optimise their production, declaring, “What is taking place right before our eyes is the modernisation of the US steel industry. You can just look at this additional capacity as hurting domestic
furnace producers.” Plummer forecasts that the EAF share of US steel production is likely to reach 71% or 72% by the end of 2019, up from 68% last year, 61.8% 10 years ago and 47% in 2000. Also, Tumazos says that it is theoretically possible for the EAF share of US steel output to move up to close to 80% by 2023, explaining that it all depends upon how much of the planned capacity additions gets built and how quickly that
“What is taking place right before our eyes is the modernisation of the US steel industry.” Philip K Bell, Steel Manufacturers’ Association pricing. This new capacity is upgrading and modernising an already safe, efficient and sustainable US steel market.” In fact, John Tumazos, president and metals analyst with John Tumazos Very Independent Research, says it could be supportive of higher steel pricing as the increased demand is likely to drive up ferrous scrap prices. Gaining market share Tyler Kenyon, a metals and mining analyst for Cowen & Co., agrees, adding, “Clearly the market forces and the lower cost structure of the EAFs have allowed them to continue to gain market share this year,” he says. Bell concurs, stating that helped by new technology and innovation, and the use of ore-based metallics to deal with some of the high residuals, such as copper, into the scrap supply, “We have increasingly seen EAF steelmakers show their ability to adapt, innovate and enter markets that were once considered exclusively for blast
occurs, which, in turn, depends upon steel prices and companies’ access to capital. Kenyon points out that another factor is what happens on the demand side of the equation and the impact of that, when combined with the additions, upon existing older, higher cost steelmaking capacity. He points out that this year the US steel market in general has been experiencing a soft patch in demand in major end-use markets including energy, automotive and many industrial subsectors, in addition to being adversely impacted by inventory destocking both on service centre and OEM levels. He observes that in response to a more tenuous operating environment, challenging spreads, low pricing and uneconomical steel production dynamics have resulted in some blast furnace capacity being at least temporarily shuttered over the course of this year. In mid-November ArcelorMittal announced plans to idle the No. 3 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbour West facility in East Chicago – perhaps permanently – leaving just two operating blast furnaces there. Also, United States
* USA correspondent November/December 2019
Mini mills Myra.indd 1
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Steel Corp. has stated that it plans to keep idle the B2 blast furnace at its Great Lakes Works near Detroit and a south blast furnace at its Gary Works near Chicago at least through the end of 2019. Kenyon notes that both furnaces were “temporarily” idled in June. There are, however, varying views as to just how much additional EAF capacity will ultimately come online and what impact it will have. Plummer has forecast that announced, underway, planned and possible new annual EAF capacity slated for 2018 through 2022 (the majority of which is brownfield upgrades and well over 90% is for sheet) to be approximately 15.6Mt, including 10.4Mt that is for projects confirmed or underway and another 5.2Mt for projects seen as being probable or possible. In addition to that, it has been estimated that 2-5Mt/yr of additional long product (rebar, merchant bar and wire rod) capacity, including restarts and brownfield and greenfield investments with much of the new greenfield plans being micro-mills, could come online over the same period. Both mills and industry observers, however, warn that these numbers don’t necessarily tell the full story of the impact of these potential capacity additions. For example, the Nucor spokeswoman maintains that the projects that her company plans to implement make sense whether or not there is a threat of a capacity glut, as they are very strategic and focused on specific market niches and opportunities, therefore, enabling the steelmaker to build upon or leverage its competitive strength. Potentially disastrous? John Anton, director of steel analytics for IHS Markit’s pricing and purchasing service, however, cautions that while it might make sense for one mill in isolation to add capacity, “When everyone adds capacity at the same time it could be a disaster,” he says, citing the “tragedy of the commons” economic theory. However, the Nucor spokeswoman says that while there is especially concern about plans for additional sheet capacity, “It remains to be seen how much of that capacity actually comes online,” given the projects that are still in a speculative stage. In fact, Tumazos believes that two or three of the EAF expansion projects, accounting for as much as 6Mt of annual capacity, www.steeltimesint.com
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Steel’s president and chief executive officer David Burritt called the deal a key step in transforming US Steel into a world competitive steel producer by adding sustainable steelmaking technology to its footprint. He told analysts that this move History in the making: John Correnti, former chairman and CEO Big River Steel, Dr. Heinrich Weiss, chairman of the advisory board of SMS group and Mike Beebe (Governor of Arkansas) breaking ground ahead of phase one development of Big River Steel
could be delayed, although he doubts that they will be cancelled forever. SMA’s Bell says that these moves shouldn’t just be looked at as capacity additions, but rather as an algebra equation given that it could also result in some older, higher cost, inefficient capacity being idled or closed, the displacement of imports, increases in exports or even some companies going out of business and exiting the market. For example, recently EAF merchant bar producer Bayou Steel closed its operations. Bell says that was in a large part because it was an older EAF mill with older equipment that wasn’t as efficient as some of the capacity that was already online as well as the new capacity coming onstream. Another recent dynamic is what Bell characterises as the coming together of steel industry leaders, specifically US Steel’s recent purchase of a 49.9% stake in Big River Steel with an option – one that it is likely to take advantage of – to totally acquire the EAF steelmaker in four years. “It is hard to tell if the combination of US Steel and Big River is the beginning of a trend (of EAF and integrated steel combinations) or whether it is an isolated move between the two companies,” Bell says, describing it as “a very unique and welcome development” that indicates US Steel’s recognition of the importance of EAF steelmaking to the US steel industry. Anton says that he sees this deal as a possible first move for US Steel to pivot its business strategy away from being an integrated producer to becoming an EAF steelmaker, especially given their apparent intention to cut their capital spending on their older facilities and “going big” on Big River. He says, “It seems as if they believe it is time to abandon blast furnaces and go to electric furnaces.” During a conference call announcing the joint venture arrangement, which was finalised at the end of October, US
is consistent with its desire to have a “best of both” footprint that, in North America, centres around three assets – Big River, Gary works with its world class hot strip mill and Mon Valley Works, which has low cost liquid steel capabilities and will be the future home of the steelmaker’s endless casting and rolling line. Highest quality steels Dave Stickler, Big River Steel’s chief executive officer, points out that when the company was formed about five years ago it was done so with the objective of combining the best of integrated steel production and mini-mill production. He says that Big River has already proven its ability to produce the highest quality steels, including grades that integrated steelmakers are known for, at a cost structure that is equal to or below that of mini-mills. He says that recognising this, US Steel decided to embrace Big River’s hybrid (integrated/mini-mill) mindset. “Our common goal is to show the world that combining integrated and mini-mill knowhow and operating capabilities is the winning formula,” Stickler says, adding, “If we are as successful as David Burritt and I believe we will be, it would certainly make sense that others would follow in US Steel’s and Big River Steel’s footsteps.” Stickler points out that, at least until US Steel acquires the other 50.1% of the company, Big River fully holds the keys and remains in the driver’s seat, including when it comes to current and planned investments. This includes the doubling of the capacity at its Osceola, Ark., site from 1.65Mt to 3.3Mt – a project scheduled for completion by the year-end 2020. The company is also moving forward with its plans to build a second flat-rolled steel mill in the southern US. Stickler says that while the Port of Brownsville is the leading candidate for that mill there are other communities that are working November/December 2019
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MINIMILLS
“Our common goal is to show the world that combining integrated and mini-mill know-how and operating
”Dave Stickler, CEO
capabilities is the winning formula, Big River Steel aggressively to attract the company. It is also still somewhat uncertain what the final equipment configuration will be for that mill. Given Big River’s “formidable” investor group, which now includes US Steel, it is possible that further opportunities could arise that will allow the companies to be part of a reshuffling of the US steel industry. There are some differing opinions of how this “reshuffling” will play out, especially given all the new EAF steelmaking capacity that is expected to come online. One major area of contention is how much this additional capacity will displace imports,
especially given that they have already fallen considerably with the imposition of Section 232 tariffs and quotas. Plummer estimates that approximately 20 to 25% new sheet capacity coming online through 2022 will displace imports and about 10% will add to export volumes, particularly to Mexico, leaving approximately 65 to 70% to stay in the US market – the equivalent of two decent sized integrated mills. That isn’t, however, to say that two integrated mills will necessarily be displaced, Plummer says. The impact is more likely to be more spread out than that
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and even have a modest amount of impact upon some older EAF capacity. Anton contests how much, if any, imports will indeed be displaced. “Even though steel have always said that would be the case, over the decades the addition of new EAF capacity has never knocked out blast furnace capacity,” he maintains. But some others say that is precisely what they expect. In fact, Bell points out that one of the reasons that Steel Dynamics Inc. chose the Sinton, Texas location for its new greenfield flat rolled steel mill, which it plans to bring online in 2021, is to both displace imports and to step up its ability to export steel into Mexico. Similarly, he says the location of Nucor’s Frostproof, Fla., rebar micro-mill could also have an import displacement effect given that there are several major Gulf of Mexico ports within a 500- mile radius of that mill. The Nucor spokeswoman says that a recent study of sheet market capacity changes over the past 30 years – since Nucor started up its first EAF sheet mill – found that the cumulative net change in US sheet capacity was only 2Mt. “That is because significant closures of blast furnace capacity essentially offset significant expansion of EAF sheet capacity,” she says. “We would expect this longstanding and ongoing trend to continue.” Anton says that while it will likely also compete with other EAFs and/or push down EAF production margins, he believes that this new EAF capacity is likely to pose a severe threat to blast furnace capacity as in the US the only steel niche that US integrated producers have left is sheet. Tumazos, however, believes that rather it is the slab rerollers, other than ArcelorMittal’s Calvert, Ala., operation, that will be most at risk, explaining that at $525/ ton hot roll, it is hard to buy a slab, move it around and reroll it for profit. While the merits of the EAFs’ low cost capabilities are likely to enable them to continue to make gains, Cowen’s Kenyon points out that there is a practical limit to how high the EAF share can go given that the production capabilities that the blast furnace producers have with respect to making steel for exposed automotive and appliance applications, at this point, isn’t being challenged by EAF producers. Also, he says, for national security purposes, the US must be able to produce virgin steel domestically and not just be reliant upon imported supply. � www.steeltimesint.com
21/11/2019 12:29:31
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PERSPECTIVES: HARBISON WALKER INTERNATIONAL
Steel – a resilient market, says HWI Things are looking good at HarbisonWalker International (HWI). The US steel market remains strong, steelmakers are running at over 80% capacity utilisation and HWI is doing business in all sectors of the steel industry. Crawford Murton* has a lot to be happy about
1. How are things going at HWI? Is the steel industry keeping you busy? The steel industry is continuing to keep us busy! In the US, the market remains strong; steelmakers are running at over 80% capacity utilisation, and there are significant expansion projects underway. We’re responding to domestic steelmakers’ increased capacity and solving their refractory challenges through several new initiatives, including capital investments, product developments, and refractory digital transformation. Although refractory is not a huge part of steel spending, it is a critical component. Our people are deeply involved on the floor and in the trenches with customers. 2. What is your view on the current state of the global steel industry? Overcapacity continues to be the biggest issue for the global steel market. While most markets have seen a decrease in demand over the last 12 months, especially in Europe, a bright spot is the Indian market where steel consumption is expected to almost double by 2028. 3. In which sector of the steel industry does HWI mostly conduct its business? We do business in all sectors of the steel industry in the US and Canada. Steel production is split roughly 35/65% from primary to secondary, and we participate in all facets and applications. 4. Where in the world are you busiest at present? The US market continues to keep us busy. Demand remains strong, driving projects that will increase domestic capacity by roughly 10% by 2022, which is aligned with
installation services, equipment, and administration necessary to maintain the customer’s steelmaking equipment. We are currently in negotiations to implement these programmes in several US steelmaking sites. 6. Where does HWI stand on the aluminium versus steel argument? Iron and steel production is responsible for up to 70% of the total demand for refractories worldwide. We supply both industries with refractory products and services. We’ve always believed competition is a good thing. Innovation stems from competition, and it certainly has ignited innovation in the industry. Steelmakers are making great strides in advanced high strength steels (AHSS), for instance. consumption forecasts. The investments are in state-of-the-art technology for advanced manufacturing. 5. Can you discuss any major steel contracts? We are excited to be a part of two new micro mill start-ups over the next 12 months. This technology is revolutionising the production of rebar here in the US enabling producers to manufacture lower value commodity-type products costeffectively, competing in a market where global over-production has seriously depressed prices. For our part, providing high-performing refractories that lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) is critical to this sector’s overall competitiveness. HWI’s Value Added Services group offers turn-key refractory management programmes where we supply everything from the products required to the
7. What are your views on Industry 4.0 and steelmaking? We’re combining our digital transformation with our proven products and field services experts to help our industries evolve together. We are working to transform data into process improvements and business intelligence to help our steel industry customers work safer and smarter, with even better tools for knowledge sharing. We’re aggressively initiating programmes to transition numerous processes from experienced-based decision-making to data-based decision-making. This also has important implications for knowledge transfer for both our industries. From the steelmaking side – advancements in machine learning have brought about efficiencies and allowed for more productivity. We are on the cutting edge of helping our customers use industry 4.0 tools to optimise their refractory manufacturing performance.
* Marketing director – ferrous metals – at HarbisonWalker International November/December 2019
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PERSPECTIVES: HARBISON WALKER INTERNATIONAL
8. “…any hint of doubt when it comes to predictions of climate doom is evidence of greed, stupidity, moral turpitude or psychological derangement.” This is a quote from Bret Stephens writing in The Wall Street Journal. Do you sympathise with his view? Steel is the world’s most recycled material! In 2018 the US steel sector recycled more than 60Mt of steel scrap, producing over 58Mt of new steel products. Our US customers are very focused on environmental stewardship and have been investing heavily in environmental initiatives. We are highly supportive of steel industry initiatives that continue to implement environmentally responsible practices. 9. Are you finding that steelmakers are looking to companies like HWI to offer them solutions in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability? We develop engineered refractory solutions for our customers that help them improve their productivity and reduce their energy consumption. Refractories by nature are designed for their insulative properties, high-temperature strengths, and their corrosion resistance. Our BARRICADE line of high performing Magnesia Carbon Bricks designed for steel ladle applications greatly reduces wear rates, lowering the consumption of refractories and the subsequent disposal volumes and making the overall process more efficient and sustainable. 10. Where does HWI lead the field in terms of steel production technology? HWI has been the leader in developing refractory solutions for steelmakers for more than 150 years. We have been able to provide breakthrough technologies for all refractory applications inside and outside of the steel market. Our magnesia carbon and alumina magnesia carbon technologies are the industry leader for BOF, EAF, and steel ladle applications. Brands such as PHANTUM and COMANCHE are the staples that competitors benchmark against. With the addition of our BARRICADE line of steel ladle refractory products we have set the bar even higher. These product developments extend refractory lifespan and lower total cost of ownership. On a related note, we’re excited about recently introducing the MULE-R (Material Unit Lift Enhancer – Refractory). It is a first of www.steeltimesint.com
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its kind, lift assist technology designed specifically for the refractory industry that provides workers with numerous safety, ergonomic, and productivity benefits while placing refractory materials in manufacturing environments. Lining a steel ladle can be physically demanding, so the safety and workforce benefits of this technology are tremendous. Currently, the MULE-R supports the installation of steel industry refractory bricks for argon oxygen decarburisation (AOD), electric arc furnace (EAF) processes and ladle installation endusers. HWI recently introduced MULE-R, the first lift
11. How do you view HWI’s development over the short-tomedium term? In the short-term we have invested significantly in capacity across our network to meet our customers’ demand. An example of this is our investment in cutting edge production technologies with the opening of our South Point, Ohio, Monolithics Plant. This is one of the most advanced refractory production facilities in the world, producing alumina-based monolithics for the North American market. We are also investing in data analytics and Industry 4.0 solutions surrounding refractory use in the steel industry. 12. China accounts for almost half of the world’s steel production. How should the industry react? We have reacted in a significant way to call attention to overcapacity and antidumping. We support our government’s stance on policies for fair trade. We want to keep fair trade for the long term. 13. What is HWI’s experience of the Chinese steel industry? We do not supply refractories for use in Chinese production, but we do source raw materials. 14. Where do you see most technological innovation? We are seeing innovation across the board. As stated before, the advancements in AHSS and Micro Mill technologies are taking off, and we can’t forget about the investments in alternative iron sources that are going on around the globe as well. What is really inspiring are the talented minds we are attracting to our industry to unleash the power of AI and data analytics through machine learning, predictive
assistance machine specifically designed for refractory installation. The device is designated for handling and placing refractory bricks in ladles, furnaces, and vessels. It extends ergonomic range while reducing risk of strain and injuries
maintenance, sophisticated sensor technologies. So much is happening in our market; it’s really exciting! 15. How optimistic are you for the global steel industry going forward? We’re more optimistic on the home front in the short term; the industry is poised for additional growth in demand. We are proud to serve this most resilient market. Europe is going to have a slow recovery, and India is on a steep growth trajectory. 16. What exhibitions and conferences are you planning to attend? Among others, we’ll be participating in the Association for Iron & Steel Technology’s AISTech 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio, and the annual Steel Manufacturers Association conference in Washington DC. 17. What keeps you awake at night? Making sure we are meeting the needs of our customers while making HWI a great place to work! Actually, I’m sleeping relatively well these days, but we are always working to improve. 18. If you possessed a superpower, how would you use it to improve the global steel industry? We have a superpower at HWI; it’s our people! We are proud to be using it to improve the industry with higherperforming refractory products, services, and cutting-edge technology to improve results for our customers. � November/December 2019
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HISTORY
Blood, sweat and tears‌ The iron and steel industry has always been a tough place to work. The heat, long hours, and physical danger provide challenges to working in a steel mill. Only workers with heart, strength, and will have made careers in steelmaking. This is a history of labour in the American steel industry. By LeAnne Zolovich* Colonial America IN the 1700s, most Americans were farmers, but some owned small businesses like stables, stores, and iron sites. Men worked to provide family income, while women cared for the home and children, although some became seamstresses and midwives. Children learned trades and added to the family income. Thousands of African slaves were brought into the colonies and English, Spanish, and French immigrants sought economic opportunity or religious freedom. Colonial iron sites were built near sources of iron ore, coal, wood for charcoal, and water for power, which meant that furnaces were in remote locations. Because of isolation, labour problems challenged early ironmasters, who used a combination of free labourers, indentured servants, and African slaves. Once indentured servants completed their work contract, they left. Runaway slaves also worked for a short amount of time, while in hiding, and then moved on, both creating a continual need for new labourers. These were the people who made America’s earliest iron products. Early America (1780-1860) From 1780 to 1860, industrialisation in the United States grew slowly. Long hours, hard work, and low pay were common in every industry.
Iron sites were still isolated, so full communities known as iron plantations were established around early furnaces. The operation of a furnace demanded the services of a sizeable workforce, all of whom needed housing, food, and more. Ironmasters maintained good relations with their workers and families, and often provided services for them, like paying off debts. Nineteenth-century iron furnaces required many employees, all trained to do a variety of tasks: some highly skilled, and some not; some full-time, and others seasonal; some received a high wage and others low wages. Skilled positions included the paymaster, founder (furnace supervisor), and blacksmith. Unskilled positions included woodcutters, colliers, and teamsters (cared for horses and mules). Teamsters made $11 per month on average, while founders could make $40 or more per month. Life for furnace workers was isolated, the work hard, and the hours long. There were no benefits like health care and time off. Very few unions existed, and they consisted of skilled workers only and were often not permanent organisations. Despite all of that, however, iron industry jobs were attractive because of the opportunity for decent pay and job advancement. The early American iron industry employed a mix of free men, indentured
servants, runaway slaves, children, and some women. The iron industry, both in the North and South, used many coloured workers. While hiding in the remote areas of furnaces, escaped slaves could earn food and money in exchange for work. Immigrants during this time came from northern and western Europe, mostly Ireland and Germany. Many came as indentured servants and worked for the iron industry. The influx of foreigners resulted in an anti-immigrant sentiment among many Americans, who viewed immigrants as unwanted competition for jobs. Job opportunities began to arise for women during this time, especially in factories. On early American iron plantations, women mostly served the operations by making candles and soap, washing and mending clothing, and cooking meals. However, some records show that a few women worked as miners and casting cleaners. Some children also took those unskilled jobs so they could contribute to the family income. Free men, indentured servants, slaves, and some women and children all made iron in early America. They, like workers in every other industry at the time, faced long hours and hard work. Iron industry employees, however, also faced isolation and physical danger while on the job.
* Educational services manager, National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum. www.steelmuseum.org November/December 2019
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21/11/2019 10:21:03
Steel’s Premier Technology Event
4–7 May 2020 / Cleveland, Ohio, USA The Iron & Steel Technology Conference and Exposition Registration opens 3 December 2019
AISTech.org
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HISTORY
Industrial and progressive America (1865-1915) By 1880, millions of Americans worked in manufacturing and faced low wages and unsafe working conditions. Twelve-hour or more workdays were common and low wages prevented industrial workers from acquiring quality housing, medical care, or enough food and clothing. Then the Progressive Era began in the 1890s. This age of urban socialism aimed to improve working and living conditions. Great industrialisation changed the relationship between owners and employees. Unlike earlier American history, employers during this time were separated from their workers and rarely had personal contact with them. Steel executives were chiefly concerned with making a profit and kept wages low. Wages averaged just $20 an hour, when a gallon of milk cost $.27. An unwavering anti-union sentiment also existed, and repression and fear of retaliation prevented most workers from joining up. By 1915, steel towns exploded because of the immigration of Europeans and the migration of black labourers. Steel companies actively recruited unskilled labourers, fulfilling the need for cheap labour. African Americans, Italians, Poles, Russians, Greeks, Hungarians and others all competed for jobs. Both mill jobs and housing were segregated, and southern blacks were the focus of strong discrimination and social disdain. They often worked as ‘scabs,’ replacing regular striking employees, which made them targets of resentment and harassment. Seeking people of common background, immigrants lived in ethnic neighbourhoods like ‘Polish Hill’ or ‘Hunky Town.’ They lived in crowded shanties and often maintained their own clubs, newspapers, churches and grocery stores. In steel mills, immigrants November/December 2019
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received marginal wages and spoke little to no English. They could not read safety rules or operating instructions or understand management, hindering their safety. The number of jobs for women and children greatly increased during the industrial age. Women continued to face discrimination in the workplace and unions were generally hostile toward them, so they formed their own. Women were not promoted to management positions and they received less pay than men. Both women and children suffered from poor living conditions in overcrowded and dirty steel towns. Efforts to regulate child labour were a feature of Progressive social reform, but only became successful later. War, depression, war (1915-1950) Two world wars led to greatly increased production and high labour turnover, which worsened workplace safety. World War I quadrupled America’s steel production and workers earned double the wages. The Great Depression reduced steel production by 75%. Unemployment was high, and those that had jobs took wage cuts and reduced hours. World War II then righted the economy and hiked the demand for steel. The Depression and World War II turned Americans progressive and pro-union. Unions doubled their membership and the Steel Workers Organising Committee formed in 1936, later becoming the United Steel Workers of America in 1942. The outbreak of war and economic depression caused a decline in immigration and America’s foreign-born population decreased from 11.6% to 6.9% of the total population by 1950. Child labour also greatly decreased during this era. Jobs during the Depression were reserved for adults and the Fair Labour Standards Acts of 1938 limited child labour, especially in manufacturing.
The opposite effect occurred for women, who entered the American workforce in droves during wartime. Men left home to fight and women took jobs, especially in WWII, when millions of women became industrial workers. They wanted to support the war effort and provide family income. At some steel companies, women could be found in almost every department: ore docks, coke plants, blast furnaces, melt shops, and rolling mills. They helped the American steel industry meet the high demands of war. Modern America (1960 to now) By 1959, the American steel worker earned 40% more than the average manufacturer and had benefits like sick days and paid vacations. In the 1960s, economic expansion led to rising injury rates, resulting in the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1970. OSHA increased and standardised workplace safety. The next few decades saw aging technology, inflation, and foreign competition, which harmed the American steel industry. Layoffs, bankruptcies, and closures of steel companies were common. Despite that, however, steel became an identity. Workers joined industry sports teams and wore company logos or “Steelworkers of America” on their clothing, they are so proud to work in steel. Today, steelmaking is much different than it was centuries and decades ago. It can be a lonely job, working more closely with computers and equipment than other employees, and the days are often long and monotonous. It is not a job for everyone, but talk to current steel employees and they will most likely tell you that that they love what they do. The American steel worker identity is still strong, and the steel industry remains an important contributor to the American and global economies. � www.steeltimesint.com
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e mail : Mr Vakhtang Kocharov
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PIONEERS AT HEART
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