Wuhan Steel becomes China's no.1 silicon steel maker

SteelOrbis Shanghai In September 2006, Wuhan Steel commenced official production in its silicon steel project phase II, worth a total investment of RMB 4.88 billion ($616 million). The planned annual production capacity of this project is 820,000 mt of cold rolled silicon steel - consisting of 160,000 mt of oriented silicon steel, and 660,000 mt of non-oriented silicon steel. The project phase I for non-oriented silicon steel, with 400,000 mt capacity was finished and began production in 2004. Thus, Wuhan Steel's total annual production of cold rolled silicon steel can now jump from 400,000 mt to 1.42 million mt. This total includes 280,000 mt of oriented silicon steel. Wuhan Steel now ranks the first in China for its silicon steel varieties and scale. At present, there are four mills that can manufacture cold rolled silicon steel in China. Wuhan Steel is the only one capable of producing oriented silicon steel. In 2005, China's production of cold rolled non-oriented electric steel reached 2.11 million mt while that of cold rolled oriented electric steel totaled 141,000 mt. Wuhan Steel has already started construction in its silicon steel project phase III. It is estimated that total capacity will reach 1.62 million mt per annum silicon steel in 2008.