US Steel and Kobe Steel, Ltd. of Japan formally commissioned the new Continuous Annealing Line at their joint venture PRO-TEC Coating Company on Monday. PRO-TEC will now process new steel grades that will assist automotive manufacturers in reaching the 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards of 54.5 miles per gallon for their passenger vehicle fleets and maintain the rigorous safety standards consumers demand.
The 500,000-ton PRO-TEC Continuous Annealing Line will produce the next generation of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS) and Ultra High Strength Steels (UHSS) from 590 mega-pascal and higher. These new grades of steel have unmatched metallurgical properties--superior strength, flatness and formability previously unavailable at these strength levels, according to a joint press release from the companies.
The commissioning event is a culmination of a $400 million capital investment by the partners into PRO-TEC. Announced in late 2010, the investment created 500 temporary construction jobs as well as 80 full-time jobs.