China's largest listed steel company Baosteel (600019) announced that it will spend 2.4 billion yuan ($337.2 million) on building a new production line for high-grade non-oriented silicon steel, which is estimated to be completed in 2023, sources reported.
The new non-oriented silicon steel products invested by Baosteel can be used to manufacture various generators and rotating electrical machines. At present, the company has an annual production capacity of 2.8 million tonnes of non-oriented silicon steel, of which 400,000 tonnes are high-grade products.
The steel used to make driving motors in new energy vehicles is high-grade non-oriented silicon steel. Since 2009, Baosteel has been researching and developing this high-end steel grade and has now become the world's largest and most sophisticated manufacturer of such products.
Last year, Baosteel sold more than 60,000 tonnes of non-oriented silicon steel to the new energy vehicle manufacturers, accounting for 60% of the domestic market. This year, Baosteel has started to deliver goods to Japanese Toyota in large quantities.
Currently, the new energy automobile market is booming. According to the data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from Jan to Jul, the domestic sales of new energy vehicles totaled 699,000, up 40.9% from a year ago.
Baosteel predicts that the demand for high-grade steel for new energy vehicles will exceed 100,000 tonnes this year and 400,000 tonnes by 2025.
(Writing by Tian Zhang Editing by Tammy Yang)
For any questions, please contact us by inquiry@fwenergy.com or +86-351-7219322.