Henan Iron and Steel Zhoukou Base rolled the world's widest millimeter thick plate and achieved its first supply. Currently, orders have been scheduled for October

On [specific date], the world's widest millimeter steel plate was successfully rolled at the Zhoukou base of Henan Iron and Steel Group, marking its first shipment. This achievement signifies that Henan Iron and Steel has become one of the few steel enterprises globally and domestically capable of producing and supplying meter-wide heavy plates, significantly enhancing its product competitiveness and marking a major step forward in its transformation towards special steel production.

Following the establishment of Henan Iron and Steel Group, it was decided to build the world's widest 4,600mm plate production line at the Zhoukou base to further enhance the company's equipment strength and technological level. This initiative aims to achieve full coverage of wide and heavy plate product specifications and varieties, continue to strengthen the dominant position of plate and strip products, and persistently optimize the product structure. On June 28, 2023, the project officially commenced construction, and by March 18, 2024, it had successfully undergone hot testing. The production line boasts the highest installed capacity, strongest rolling capability, widest specifications, and most comprehensive variety in the world today, garnering widespread attention from the industry and downstream customers. Just 18 days after the successful hot test, the wide and heavy plate unit entered the trial production phase and began accepting market orders. Currently, orders are abundant, with production scheduled through June.

In order to quickly transform equipment advantages into product advantages and then into profit-generating advantages, after the successful hot testing of the production line, Henan Steel has intensively carried out multiple research projects such as width expansion control, continuously improved the rolling data model, and made overall smooth progress in functional debugging and small-batch trial production. These efforts have prepared the company in advance to handle market orders and laid a solid foundation for the successful rolling and smooth shipment of the millimeter extra-wide thick plates to customers.

Next, Henan Steel will accelerate the installation and commissioning of subsequent equipment, further refine the intelligent control system, and comprehensively shift the product structure towards ultra-wide, ultra-narrow, ultra-heavy, ultra-thick, and special series products. The goal is to achieve full production capacity and efficiency as soon as possible, creating the first fully digital and intelligent production line in China with the widest specifications, the most comprehensive range of products, and a focus on high-end manufacturing. This will lead to new and greater breakthroughs in the transformation of special steel.

It is reported that high-performance wide and heavy steel plates are widely used in major projects and equipment across sectors such as energy and petrochemicals, transportation, and marine engineering. These plates serve as crucial strategic materials supporting the transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development of a nation's manufacturing industry. Their application scenarios are increasingly broad, with a growing trend toward extra-wide specifications. Taking the shipbuilding industry as an example, the current global trend involves adopting large-block construction techniques and oversized marine steel plates to reduce weld seams and shorten construction cycles. This has led to a surge in demand for wide and heavy steel plates in shipbuilding. Wide and heavy plates are also essential materials in petrochemical construction. For instance, oil drilling platforms standing in deep seas previously used steel plates with maximum widths reaching millimeters. Similarly, the application requirements for wide and heavy plates in nuclear power plant containment structures are extremely stringent—weld seams must be minimized, and the plates must be rolled by mills capable of producing widths exceeding meters. As a result, thicker and wider steel plate products are gaining increasing market preference.

Baotou Steel produced and delivered high-end container steel for the first time

Recently, Baotou Steel successfully delivered its first batch of high-end, thick-gauge normalized pressure vessel steel plates, which are destined for a company in North China to be used in the manufacturing of liquid carbon dioxide storage tanks. This achievement marks another significant milestone in Baotou Steel's development of new high-end container steel products.

此次批量生产的厚规格高端容器钢板交货期短、需求量大，又恰逢春节假期，进一步加大了生产难度和交付风险。为确保产品按时交付，包钢股份各单位、各部门快速联动，成立专班，坚守一线推进生产。该公司生产人员对高端厚规格容器钢板的化学成分、冶炼、连铸、轧制、正火等制订了全新方案，深入现场，针对潜在风险制订了技术预案，严格把控生产工序，有效解决了多项关键技术难题，实现产品性能合格率%，最终在个月时间内完成了产品交付。

年，包钢股份将继续推进"优质精品钢+系列稀土钢"发展战略，坚持科技创新引领，打造更多具有品牌优势的"拳头产品"，将资源优势转化为产品、效益和竞争优势。

Dancing to Welcome Spring, Celebrating the Festival with Joy

On the day of the Lantern Festival, retired employees of China Baowu Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group gathered together to celebrate the occasion with self-directed and self-performed cultural programs, singing and dancing in joy. The photo shows retired Taiyuan Iron and Steel employees participating in Lantern Festival activities at Jiantaiyuan Hengshan Community in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province.