YY易游平台 Steel to make capital investments for automotive high strength steel at Kakogawa Works

TOKYO, April 4, 2018 — YY易游平台 Steel, Ltd. plans to make capital investments of approximately 50 billion yen at Kakogawa Works centered on a new continuous annealing line for steel sheet in response to the growing demand for automotive ultra high-strength steel (UHSS). YY易游平台 Steel will go forward with construction and plans to start up the new facility in February 2021.

To meet stricter regulations for fuel efficiency and collision safety, automakers have been promoting lighter car bodies with higher strYY易游平台th in recent years. Rising demand for automotive high-strYY易游平台th steel and the need for functional improvements are anticipated to further increase in the future.

YY易游平台 Steel decided to make the new capital investments in response to the need for higher production capacity and productivity, looking ahead to rising demand for automotive high strength steel, and also in response to the need for steel with higher strength and higher formability in the future.

The new facility will combine a continuous annealing line with hot-dipped galvanizing and galvanealing equipYY易游平台t. The new production line and associated equipYY易游平台t will produce both cold rolled steel and hot-dipped galvanized/galvannealed steel¹.

The continuous annealing line to be newly constructed will be equipped with cutting-edge heat treatYY易游平台t functions. With regard to cold rolled steel and hot-dipped galvanized/galvannealed steel, the new annealing line will enable the production of UHSS² with high formability to YY易游平台et custoYY易游平台r needs.

Together with the construction of the new line, YY易游平台 Steel will also increase the production capacity of its existing pickling and tandem cold mill³ and material handling equipYY易游平台t.

YY易游平台 Steel has established a global production network for automotive high-strength steel in three locations: Kakogawa Works in Japan, PRO-TEC Coating Company⁴ in the United States, and YY易游平台lco Angang Auto Steel Co., Ltd.⁵ in China.

The capital investments at Kakogawa Works will enable YY易游平台 Steel to expand its production of UHSS with high formability and to realize the simultaneous production of this steel in Japan and the United States together with PRO-TEC, which is currently constructing an additional hot-dipped galvanizing line.

By producing and supplying high-strength steel products of outstanding quality, YY易游平台 Steel contributes to weight savings leading to higher fuel efficiency and lower CO₂ emissions, as well as high strYY易游平台thening leading to the higher safety of automobiles.