Stemcor, the world's largest independent steel trader, has announced that Japan-based steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corp. (NSSC) has appointed Stemcor Stainless (UK) as its agent and sales channel for the new FW Series ferritic stainless steel in the UK and Ireland.
According to NSSC, Grade FW2 will be of particular interest to the market as it offers exactly the same corrosion resistance as Grade 304, at up to 20 percent lower cost due to zero nickel. It also offers excellent deep drawing and formability qualities, with less surface roughness after forming. FW1 is a lower priced product, due to lower chrome content, that offers greatly improved corrosion resistance over Grade 430.
FW Series stainless steel is available in coils or sheets from 0.3 to 4.0 mm in thickness and 300 to 1,000/1,219/1,250/1,500/1,524 mm in width. Stemcor stated that any application that uses Grade 304 is a candidate for replacement with FW2.
In addition to FW Grades, Stemcor Stainless holds a comprehensive UK stock of stainless steel sheet and coil products in Grades 304, 304L, 430 and 316.