American steel manufacturers continue to enhance their coated steel plate production capacity to provide flat material products with higher added value and more advanced performance. The goal of the new capacity is to meet the user requirements for new products of coated steel plate, providing new and better performance materials for the automotive, construction and other industries, including weldability, formability and lighter weight. The development of the new coating production line capacity will rely on the construction of the new facilities. On the other hand, as the United States faces the retirement of old hot-plated galvanizing lines in recent years, the increase in new production capacity will not lead to coating overcapacity.
Late in the summer, the American Steel Power Corporation (SDI) prepares to start its new plant in Sinton, Texas. The plant has an annual capacity of 2.72 million tons hot rolled and 850,000 tons cold rolling and will also have 500,000 ton hot galvanized and 250,000 tons color painted lines 4 mm thick and 1930 mm wide. Finproducts will be sold to the southern and western US markets as well as Mexican markets.
Good progress in the Steel Power Company Hinton project encouraged the producer to begin building coating facilities in the southern United States to support the operation of its new Sinton project. Steel Power is currently locating and sizing the planned Southern coating project. According to preliminary plans, the project will have a hot 272,155 t / year zinc plating line for the production of Galvalume? Plating products, along with a 217,724 ton / year color coating production line, are expected to operate in the second half of 2022.
Steel Power said the Hinton project will drive the company's transformation and upgrading and will create long-term value for the community, customers and investors. Galvalume? Plating products are the fastest growing flat material products in the US market, mainly used in the metal construction industry, where up to 45% of the coating products need to be imported from abroad.
Newco Steel plans to begin operating a new 455,000 ton / year hot galvanizing line in its Hickman, Arkansas plant. Equipment supplier Andreitz (ANDRITZ) will customize the line with a heating furnace, strip cleaning unit, strip transportation unit and levelers, and electrical and automation systems using the latest annealing technology.
Newco notes that this new galvanized line, combined with the company's new advanced cold mill unit, will enable it to effectively produce products beyond any North American factory capabilities and have the flexibility to meet customers' current and future needs for advanced high-strength steel products.
Big River Steel announced a new galvanized color production capacity at its Osceola, Arkansas) plant. The new steelmaking capacity at the Osieola plant is part of Dahe Steel's plan to double its capacity. However, after completing its acquisition of Riverriver Steel in late 2020, USSteel temporarily shifted its focus to a planned addition of a 200,000 tons / year in September 2023. The new line will be close to the growing customer base and will broaden the high value-added portfolio. The decision to build the new line was based on US Steel expects to invest further by 2025 and customer demand will continue to grow.
In addition, the producer did not cancel previously announced plans for new galvanizing projects, as its strategy was to achieve sustained growth based on state-of-the-art technology at low emission levels. Earlier, the producer revealed that it had signed a contract for a new hot-dip galvanized production line, but so far no project details and schedules have been released.
After the new coating line, the US galvanizing capacity will increase by over 1.22 million tons / year (by 5%) and color production capacity by 467,000 tons / year (37%). Data show that the restructuring and consolidation of US steel mills in the past decade has led to the closure of about 10 hot-plated galvanized production lines, with a total capacity of about 3 million tons / year. (Source: The World Metal Guide)
