On December 31, Chinese steelmaker Baosteel announced that after an 18-month development period it has successfully tested heavy steel plates for application in spherical tanks used in oil refining processes, which operate at a temperature of -50°C.
In the refinery project located in Huizhou operated by China National Offshore Oil Corp., two such spherical tanks are needed, which will use 600 mt of plate. At present, apart from Baosteel, only two other steelmakers in the world have successfully developed the heavy plates in question.