Tsingshan launches 3 million-tpy hot rolling mill

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The 1780mm hot rolling mill run by subsidiary Dingxin Technology, will be located in Southern China’s Fujian Province, Jiang Xinfang, president director of Tsingshan Mining Investment, told Steel First in an interview on February 24.

The mill will roll stainless slab sent from neighbouring Guangdong-based Guangqing Metal, as well as materials from Fujian-based Dingxin Nickel. Both are subsidiaries of Tsingshan.

Monthly slab production at Tsingshan is 300,000 tonnes, and is expected to reach 350,000 tonnes in May, Jiang said.

Guangqing also supplies a certain volume of stainless slab to major Chinese stainless steelmakers such as Baosteel Stainless and Lisco, because of its competitive production costs.

The increasing stainless slab production means that Guangqing will continue to be a source for those mills in 2014, Jiang said.

“The competition and surplus of stainless hot rolled coil will be more serious this year because we will have our own hot rolling mill,” Jiang said.

“We need our own hot rolling mill and can’t always sell slab to others,” Jiang explained.

“If we roll by ourselves, we will have more profit and our own market share for the end production,” he added.