On May 31, Hubei-based Chinese steel producer Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (WISCO) disclosed that it has already completed the construction of the last two production lines, CP3 and CP4, of its No.3 silicon steel project. With the launch of production, WISCO will have an annual capacity of 2 million mt of silicon steel, becoming the largest silicon steel production base in the world. Currently, more than half of domestic silicon steel demand in China is met by WISCO.
In 1979, WISCO established the first silicon steel plant (No.1 silicon steel project) in China, with 967 of 1,070 units of equipment supplied from Japan. During the trial-production period at that time, output for the product in question was only 20,000 mt. In comparison, in 2006 after the launch of the No. 2 silicon steel project, the company's annual capacity of silicon steel exceeded 1.4 million mt. Now, with the completion of the last two production lines of the No. 3 silicon steel project, WISCO will have an annual capacity of 2 million mt of silicon steel.
90 percent of equipment used in WISCO's No. 3 silicon steel project are of domestic manufacture, with 100 percent independent intellectual property rights.