Posted on 12 Dec 2015
Southeast Asian plants backed by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and JFE Steel are beginning to match the quality standards of facilities in Japan. By upgrading their operations in the region, these companies are seeking to strengthen their competitiveness in a global market awash with low-priced Chinese steel.
Nippon Steel runs a sophisticated facility in Thailand's Rayong Province that produces zinc-coated steel sheet. The plant, which came onstream in autumn 2013, is now capable of turning out high-grade hot-dip galvanized and galvannealed steel sheet on a par with Japan-made products, according to Akihiko Ota, president of local unit Nippon Steel & Sumikin Galvanizing (Thailand), or NSGT.
More than 10 Japanese engineers have been working at the NSGT plant to train local hires. This past spring, the company increased the Japanese contingent to speed up the plant's development into a state-of-the-art facility. The factory is running at about 70% of capacity, now that major Japanese automakers' local units have started ordering its products.
The NSGT facility draws strength from close cooperation with the adjacent Siam United Steel, or SUS, another Nippon Steel subsidiary that produces cold-rolled steel sheet. The latter offered technical support to get NSGT up and running, including employee training.
SUS has been supplying automakers and electronics manufacturers with a type of steel sheet made by heat treating hot-rolled steel imported from Japan. Now, it can supply original sheet to NSGT, too. The two companies plan to cooperate in sales and marketing operations as well, looking to increase efficiency and cut costs.
Ahead -- for now
JFE Steel was the first to build a plant for automobile-use galvanized steel sheet in Thailand. The company's local unit, JFE Steel Galvanizing (Thailand), or JSGT, fired up a plant for zinc-coated steel plate for cars in April 2013.
JSGT is poised to begin production of ultrahigh-tensile steel sheet with 980 megapascals of strength in 2016.
[PICTURE1]
Raising the yields of high-tensile steel sheet is no easy task. But JSGT
Managing Director Mitsuru Ogawa is confident the plant can offer stable
supplies of such steel, thanks to its improved product inspection
technology.
