OREANDA-NEWS. December 9, 2011. Kobe Steel, Ltd. plans to make capital investments of approximately 36 billion yen to enhance the hot-metal treatment capacity at its Kakogawa Works and Kobe Works and the heat treatment capacity for steel plate at the Kakogawa Works to strengthen the competitiveness of the company's steel facilities.

These investments will support Kobe Steel's Iron & Steel segment in increasing its sales of "Only One" high-end products to comprise 50% of segment sales by fiscal 2015.

High-end steel products, such as automotive high-strength steel sheet, steel cord and bearing steel, require a high degree of cleanliness, compared with steel for general use. Hot-metal treatment is necessary to reduce the amount of sulfur and phosphorus in the molten iron. The hot-metal treatment plant will be constructed between the blast furnace, which makes pig iron, and the basic oxygen furnace plant, which turns the iron into steel.

In the coming years, steel plate for the energy industry is one of the products in which Kobe Steel intends to expand sales. Steel plate is used in tanks, pressure vessels and line pipes. For these applications, the steel needs to be desulfurized and dephosphorized. After rolling, the steel must undergo heat treatment. A heat treatment furnace will be installed after the plate mill in Kakogawa Works.

Through these capital investments, Kobe Steel will be able to greatly increase its hot-metal treatment capacity and heat treatment capacity for steel plate. The improvements will strengthen Kobe Steel's production system at its steelworks and contribute to expanding sales of high-end steel products.

The higher hot-metal treatment capacity will also lower costs. By increasing the reaction efficiency during desulfurization and dephosphorization, the amount of lime and other auxiliary materials is substantially reduced and yield is improved. As low-grade raw materials containing comparatively large amounts of sulfur and phosphorus can be used in larger quantities, the two steelworks will be able to save as much as 10 billion yen annually.