Japanese steelmaker Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Metals) has announced that it will make a capital investment of approximately JPY5 billion ($64.2 million) in its US-based subsidiary Standard Steel, LLC., a railway wheels and axles manufacturer, to introduce a ‘vacuum degassing facility' for high cleanliness steel and Sumitomo Metals' proprietary ‘rotary forging press' for high-precision wheels.
Both companies will form a project team for facility improvement and aim at early completion of the project with the ultimate goal of enhancing the quality and added value of Standard Steel's products. The project is scheduled to be completed in September 2014.
According to Sumitomo Metals' statement, the transfer of Sumitomo Metals' technologies in high-end wheels to Standard Steel will enhance their international competitiveness and improve their position in North America's high-end railway wheel market for urban transportation, high-speed railways, and high-load freight cars. Accordingly, Standard Steel will manufacture railway wheels of almost the same quality as those manufactured by Sumitomo Metals in Japan.