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Heavy plate is a key material for the construction of submarines, aircraft carriers, offshore platforms, nuclear power plants, bridges, pipelines and pressure vessels etc. The development and application of heavy plate products is a microcosm of a country's manufacturing capability. As heavy plate plays such an important role in industrial construction, how about the variety capability between Chinese and international (out of China) heavy plate enterprises?
SteelRanking releases 2022 variety capability ranking of world heavy plate, which analyzes the real gap of variety capability between Chinese and international (out of China) enterprises from technical view.
—SteelRanking（www.atsteel.com.cn） is a quality grading brand launched to improve the quality of steel product.
Evaluation of heavy plate variety capability is conducted from three evaluation sub-systems, including enterprise’s variety structure, product performance level and limit specification. Variety structure refers to the application field, quantity and proportion of products produced by a steel enterprise. Performance level refers to the extremity performance of products that a steel enterprise can provide. Limit specification refers to the extremity size and weight of products that can be provided by a steel enterprise.
SteelRanking has released the ranking of heavy plate variety capability since 2018. In 2022, evaluation of heavy plate variety capability covers 56 heavy plate production lines, including 43 lines of 23 Chinese enterprises and 13 lines of 4 international (out of China) enterprises. Compared with previous ranking lists, 7 Chinese enterprises have been newly added to the ranking list, including Shougang Jingtang, HBIS(HeBei Iron and Steel Group) Tangshan Medium Thick Plate, Chongqing Steel, Bayi Steel, Liuzhou Steel, Jingye Steel and Fujian Sangang.
2022 Variety Capability Ranking of World Heavy Plate
Note: Zhongnan Steel is the abbreviation of China Baowu Group Zhongnan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., which is the original China Baowu Group Guangdong Shaoguan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.
Compared with previous version, the top ten enterprises in the variety capability ranking of world heavy plate are still the same, but the ranking of each enterprise has changed more or less.
Nippon Steel continues to rank No.1 with overall advantages of variety structure, product performance level and limit specification. ArcelorMittal Industeel and Dillinger drop one place to 5th and 6th respectively. POSCO drops from 5th to 8th because of the shortage of ship and ocean engineering structural steels of high toughness and pipeline steels for special use, as well as the limitation of limit specification. It is reported that POSCO has recently built a vertical semi-continuous caster with a thickness of 700mm. It is believed that the variety structure and limit specification will be further improved with the production of this equipment.
Among Chinese enterprises in the top ten of heavy plate variety capability ranking, Ansteel still ranks in 2nd place with its long-term accumulation in technology and customers, closely following Nippon Steel. As special heavy plate manufacturer with longest history in China, HBIS Wusteel rises from 6th to 3rd with great advantages in product performance level and new product development, such as economical 7%Ni steel and high manganese steel for low temperature use of LNG. Relying on powerful technical team and R&D capability, Baosteel has formed a comprehensive variety structure through its technical accumulation in products such as high heat input welding steels, brittle crack arrest steels(BCA steels) and economical 7%Ni low temperature steel for LNG. It also has a high product performance level. So Baosteel’s ranking rises from 9th to 4th. Nanjing Steel has been expanding in heavy plate variety structure, product performance level and limit specification, such as the development of economical 7%Ni steel and high manganese steel for low temperature use of LNG, and the achievement of industrial application of 100mm thick BCA steel. At the same time, a 460mm thick continuous caster is being built. Supported by above evidences, Nanjing Steel’s ranking rises from 10th to 7th. Xingcheng Special Steel and XiangSteel drops from 8th and 7th to 9th and 10th places respectively.
Next, variety capability ranking of world heavy plate will be interpreted from variety structure, product performance level and limit specification:
Variety Structure
The variety structure of heavy plate can be divided into the following categories according to the use of products: Carbon structural steels, high strength low alloy steels, ship and ocean engineering structural steels, pipeline steels for petroleum and natural gas transportation, boiler and pressure vessel steels, high strength structural steels for engineering machinery, abrasion resistant steels, structural steels for building and bridge, corrosion resistant steels, steels for hydropower and nuclear power, and die steels. Each category can also be subdivided according to specific purpose and product standards. For example, ship and ocean engineering structural steels can be subdivided into general products of classification society, high heat input welding steels, BCA steels for container ship, and corrosion resistant steels for ship, etc.
Among the top ten enterprises in the variety structure ranking of world heavy plate, Nippon Steel and Xingcheng Special Steel maintains the first and tenth positions respectively. Ansteel, HBIS Wusteel and Baosteel all rise two places compared with previous version, as well as Dillinger. POSCO drops from 2nd to 5th due to the shortage of ship and ocean engineering structural steels of high toughness and pipeline steels for special use, such as high deformability pipeline steels and submarine pipeline steels. ArcelorMittal Industeel drops 5 places to 8th due to the shortage of BCA steels and pipeline steels. XiangSteel drops from 7th to 9th because of the shortage of corrosion resistant steels, economical 7%Ni steel and high manganese steel for low temperature use of LNG, etc.
Product performance level
Product performance level refers to the extremity performance level of products that an enterprise can provide, such as the maximum thickness specification corresponding to the highest performance of ship and ocean engineering structural steels, the highest toughness level of low temperature steels, the maximum welding energy input, and the maximum thickness of rack steels and BCA steels, etc.
Among the top ten enterprises in the performance level ranking of world heavy plate, HBIS Wusteel rises from 6th to 2nd with its advantage in the maximum thickness of ship and ocean engineering structural steels. Nanjing Steel drops 3 places to 7th due to the limitation of the maximum thickness of ship and ocean engineering structural steels.
Limit specification
Limit specification is the extremity size and weight of products that can be provided by an steel enterprise. It includes the maximum thickness that can guarantee product’s performance and flaw detection, the maximum width, the largest single piece weight, the maximum weight of a single electroslag remelting slab, and the maximum thickness of clad plate produced by vacuum electron beam welding slab rolling technology.
In terms of limit specification, the ranking of the top ten enterprises fluctuates between 1 or 2 places.
Conclusion
On the whole, Nippon Steel still has the most comprehensive variety capability of heavy plate in the world, and its technical influence and international leading role will continue to be maintained for a period of time.
Ansteel, HBIS Wusteel, Baosteel, Nanjing Steel, Xingcheng Special Steel and XiangSteel are located in the first echelon in heavy plate variety capability ranking among Chinese steel enterprises. It can be seen that the variety capability of Chinese enterprises is now co-leading the world in heavy plate area, and will continue to rise up with the development of Chinese steel industry.
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