Marubeni Itochu Steel Inc has announced plans to expand the plant at MI Steel Processing Guangzhou Co Limited along with moves to further strengthen that company’s processing equipment.
MISPG, a wholly owned MISI subsidiary, specializes in the processing of automobile use steel sheets in South China. The automobile industry in this area is currently experiencing a major surge of development.
As a result, demand for such steel products continues to grow from Japanese automakers and other market players, with the need for high quality processed items becoming more sophisticated. In recent years, market demand has risen for stainless steel, aluminum, and other materials used in manufacturing automobile components along with expanding orders for highly advanced processing quality.
This led to the recent decision to invest an additional JPY 900 million in the company, targeting an operation startup date of April 2012, to further expand plant space (by about 7,500 square meters) and introduce new equipment there. The No 3 slitter line to be added this time around (0.15 mm-1.5 mm × 1,300 mm) will be engineered to handle materials that require rigorous precision in processing sections. In addition to automotive applications, this line will possess functions suitable for the precision machining of steel products for use in household appliances and office automation equipment.
Preceding this latest equipment expansion plan, MISI invested JPY 600 million to bring onboard the No 2 slitter line (0.5 mm-2.3 mm × 1,880 mm) in May 2010. This line features an original design that embodies the pooled outer panel processing know how cultivated by MISI over the years in Japan, making MISI the only company operating in China to own a slitter with such stellar functions. This system is structured to carry out slitting without scarring or marking either the front or back of the steel sheets, enabling it to address the needs of slitting, trimming, and splitting automobile use outer panel materials.
This equipment and plant expansion will boost annual processing capacity to 360,000 tons, giving the plant the second highest such capacity of any similar MISI facility in Asia after the United Coil Center, Limited of Thailand (500,000 tons). Also, it will be able to satisfy a broad range of customer demand from the processing of automobile use outer panels requiring superb surface quality to thinner gauge sheets that demand uncompromising section precision. The expansion of plant space, meanwhile, will boost the facility’s storage capacity to 60,000 tonnes.
MISPG plans to put this high performance processing equipment to potent use in further strengthening its quality control and prompt customer delivery processed items becoming more sophisticated. In recent years, market demand has risen for stainless steel, aluminum, and other materials used in manufacturing automobile components along with expanding orders for highly advanced processing quality.
This led to the recent decision to invest an additional JPY 900 million in the company, targeting an operation startup date of April 2012, to further expand plant space (by about 7,500 m2) and introduce new equipment there. The No 3 slitter line to be added this time around (0.15 mm-1.5 mm × 1,300 mm) will be engineered to handle materials that require rigorous precision in processing sections. In addition to automotive applications, this line will possess functions suitable for the precision machining of steel products for use in household appliances.
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