The SMS group has received an an order rom Shandong Iron & Steel SMS group www.sms-group.com for the supply of a continuous caster for ultra-wide slabs. The single-strand caster is designed for an annual production of 1.5 million tons of steel slabs with widths of up to 3,250 millimeters and 150 millimeters thickness. On the caster, structural steel grades as well as micro- and low-alloy steel grades will be produced. Peritectic grades will make up more than 45 percent of the overall production. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2018.

In the future, Shandong Steel will measure and align molds and segments using the HD LASr assistant system developed by SMS group. Perfect alignment between molds and segments has a strong influence on slab quality.

Thanks to its three-dimensional laser measuring system and an intuitive operating concept, HD LASr ensures precise and reliable recording as well as a meaningful evaluation of the measured objects.

The molds will be treated with UNIGUARDTM, a plasma-ceramic coating which provides for a mold service life that is four times longer than with conventional coatings.

For this caster, SMS group will supply an HD moldTC (TC – thermocouples). Furthermore, the narrow sides will be equipped with HD moldFO (FO – Fiber Optical sensors) and the Breakout Prevention Assist and Mold Temperature Assist systems.

Breakout Prevention Assist reliably prevents break-outs resulting from stickers in the mold and in this way ensures effective protection and high availability of the plant. Mold Temperature Assist provides two- and three-dimensional information on distribution of the heat dissipation, alignment of the submerged entry nozzle, stirring effect and the contact between strand shell and copper plates.

Additionally, the mold will be equipped with HD moldFO copper plates that detect signals by means of optical fibers. More than 500 measuring points are distributed across the entire height of the mold. Direct visualization of the local strand shell thickness and the respective thickness of the liquid and solid layers of mold powder is only possible using HD moldFO. This provides for a deeper understanding of the solidification process.

SMS group will supply the entire X-Pact® electrical and automation systems for the continuous caster, the technological control systems (Level 1) and the technological process models (Level 2).

Furthermore, the plant will be equipped with Internet of things (Industry 4.0) technologies newly developed by SMS group providing for intelligent processing of plant data and automation of processes. Based on the steel grades to be produced, the X-Pact® TechAssist system automatically selects the optimum technological parameter settings for the metallurgical process.

X-Pact® Process Guidance automatically provides all relevant process information, prompts and operator screens at the right time. All plant control and maintenance functionalities can be performed comfortably at an operator station. X-Pact® Business Intelligence summarizes relevant data from different systems and enables interaction with dynamic applications and dashboards.

The SMS group scope of supply furthermore comprises training of the customer personnel, local manufacturing supervision, installation and installation supervision as well as commissioning supervision.(60 lines of max. 65 characters per line)

Reliable measurement of continuous caster segments and molds using the HD LASr plant assistant system from SMS group. With the HD moldFO from SMS group, among other things the strand shell thickness can be visualized.

| An SMS Group release  |  February 16, 2017  ||

In the highly competitive world of fabricated structural steel, some local producers and advocates now actively promote reducing the labour component by rationalising building design to enable them to reduce their price and deliver simplicity, says Challenge Steel chief executive Suresh Nagaiya.

“However, Challenge Steel achieves its competitiveness by dealing with one of China’s largest and highly renowned steel producers. Therefore, we can deliver both design complexity or simplicity cost-effectively for the likes of signature buildings.

“The fact that Challenge Steel is now involved in some major rebuilds in Christchurch post its devastating earthquakes shows the level of assurance, absolute quality, and sheer cost-effectiveness we’re able to deliver,” says Mr Nagaiya.

“Thankfully in New Zealand we’re seeing more and more award-winning design in significant public and private buildings. What’s more, steel is now often a very visible component of a building’s celebrated architecture and aesthetics.”

Mr Nagaiya also notes that renowned engineer Dr Peter Johnstone, who’s been in the media a lot following recent earthquakes, advocates that steel not concrete should increasingly be the lead design component in large New Zealand buildings.

Challenge Steel has quickly risen to become one of New Zealand’s largest importers of fabricated structural steel. The CEO says its business continues to grow as public entities and private developments up and down the country demand even more confidence and integrity around quality assurance.

“Challenge Steel is fast getting recognised for establishing a whole new benchmark when it comes to quality assurance and comprehensive product testing, making the likes of developers, procurement and project managers very receptive to our arrival into the local marketplace.

“People are increasingly cognisant of any potential issues and simply can’t afford to procure products that could erode public or consumer confidence in their structures. They naturally want the highest of assurance and we can categorically deliver.”

In recent months Suresh Nagaiya along with Challenge Steel founder and chairman Bert Govan have made trips to China with clients, contractors and prominent engineers showing them the exhaustive processes in action and providing confidence in the product and systems in place.

“We take clients and construction industry experts over to China and they are blown away. They soon see the quality of product being turned out, the robust testing and certification process, and the fact that each steel product is stamped with a unique code to ensure complete traceability. They also see Southern QA’s people on the ground at the fabrication factory. They come back to New Zealand with all the confidence they needed,” he says.

Challenge Steel had its genesis in the Christchurch earthquakes. Its supplier is the Shangdong Iron & Steel Group (Shan Steel) – a wholly state-owned steel conglomerate and one of China’s largest steel makers.

Mr Nagaiya says the motivation of Challenge Steel was to challenge and change New Zealand’s traditional procurement model. They wanted to introduce a lower price threshold into the local steel market and to positively impact on the high construction costs that were negatively impacting on the likes of housing affordability.

“We developed a world-class model over three years that delivers best practice at every step, and we’ve partnered with an array of expert individuals and world-class organisations. As well as manufacturer tests, our products are independently checked both in China and New Zealand, and then potentially by our own city councils. It’s very rigorous.”

Another factor inspiring confidence are Challenge Steel’s key leaders. Last year Tony Sewell and Geoff Cranko joined the board as its two new independent directors.

Mr Sewell is also the current chairman of Business New Zealand, and the former long-time chief executive of Ngai Tahu Property Limited. Geoff Cranko is also the Group Managing Partner of Strategy Design & Advertising and a former CEO of SGS.

Chief executive Suresh Nagaiya is a University of Auckland civil engineering graduate and IPENZ member. As a part-owner of central Auckland project management company, N-Compass, he also brings considerable senior project management experience.

“Challenge Steel is living proof you can deliver both competition and quality into the local steel market. It’s a proposition that’s really resonating and we’re now helping to lift local confidence in imported fabricated structural steel,” says Mr Nagaiya.

| A Challenge Steel release  |  February 8, 2017  ||

The Commission has now completed its seismic steel mesh investigations into five of the companies under investigation. Three companies, who cannot be named at this time, have been advised that the Commission intends to issue criminal proceedings under the Fair Trading Act. Two other companies have been issued with lower-level investigation outcomes. Fletcher Steel Limited (Fletchers) has been issued with a warning and United Steel Limited (United Steel) has been issued with compliance advice. Investigations are continuing into several other companies.

The Commission began investigating seismic steel mesh in August 2015 after a complaint was laid that some steel mesh products did not comply with the Australia/New Zealand standard (AS/NZ 4671:2001) (the Standard). The Standard mandates various physical characteristics required of steel mesh, and the testing methods that must be applied during their production. The complaint related to grade 500E steel mesh, which is ductile steel mesh often used in concrete slabs like house foundation slabs and driveways.

Early mesh testing results gave the Commission concern that some steel mesh being sold in New Zealand did not meet the requirements of the Standard as to ductility (elongation). As the investigation developed, and more companies were investigated, the Commission also developed concerns about compliance with testing procedures.

The three companies who are to be prosecuted cannot be named at this time, to provide them an opportunity to seek name suppression. The Commission will be alleging that the companies misrepresented that their mesh was “500E” and complied with the Standard, when it was not and did not. The Commission will also allege that the companies made unsubstantiated representations that the mesh complied with the Standard, when it did not.

Commission Chairman Dr Mark Berry, said “Our focus has been on the claims that these companies made about the steel mesh they were selling. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is the building regulator, and sets and enforces the Standards and Building Code. While the Commission is not responsible for the Standard or the Code we can take legal action where we see misleading or deceptive claims about compliance.”

The Commission is aiming to the file these criminal charges in early 2017.

The Commission has warned Fletchers for engaging in conduct that was likely to breach the Fair Trading Act in relation to 19 specific batches of Fletchers 500E product. The Commission was concerned that these 19 batches did not comply with the requirements of the Standard because:

• Fletchers’ retesting of the batches was not conducted in line with the strict requirements of the Standard; and
• Fletcher’s quality data recorded some values that were lower than required by the Standard.

However, the Commission was satisfied that the mesh had the strength and ductility required by the Standard, and was therefore comfortable in restricting its response to a warning letter.

United Steel has been sent compliance advice by the Commission for similar retesting deficiencies. In its case, United retested two batches in a way that did not comply with the Standard. However, United Steel was not required to retest that mesh as it already complied with the Standard. The Commission’s advice says that where a company chooses to retest mesh, it must adopt a retesting method that complied with the Standard, to ensure that accurate results are recorded on test certificates and in its database. The Commission was satisfied that the United Steel mesh had the strength and ductility required by the Standard.

“Our investigations concerned batches of 500E seismic steel mesh sold before April 2016. The Commission has had court enforceable undertakings in place with several steel mesh providers since April to ensure more stringent testing. In addition MBIE has recently issued a clarified Standard and made changes to the testing requirements. This should give New Zealanders greater confidence that the steel mesh currently being sold in New Zealand meets the Standard,“ Dr Berry said.

As this investigation is ongoing and prosecutions will be brought against three companies, the Commission will not be commenting further at this time.

Background

Steel mesh

Ductile steel reinforcing mesh (sometimes referred to as welded wire fabric) is typically used as reinforcement in concrete floor slabs and driveways. It strengthens concrete slabs and is generally used to reduce concrete cracks and limit crack width.

The Standard

The Australia/New Zealand standard (AS/NZ 4671:2001) (the Standard) specifies both the performance characteristics of the mesh and the procedures (ie, sampling and testing) that must be followed to comply including:

• Manufacturing methods that must be used by steel manufacturers;
• The chemical, mechanical and dimensional requirements of mesh;
• The sampling and testing of each batch of mesh; and
• The identification and labelling of different grades of mesh.

To be sold in New Zealand as 500E grade steel mesh, the mesh must be produced in accordance with the requirements of the Standard. If mesh is produced in any other way, it cannot be described as 500E mesh.

Our investigation

On 5 August 2015 the Commission received a complaint raising concerns with regard to the validity of claims being made by three companies selling steel mesh in New Zealand. This complaint related to problems with a particular size of 500E mesh. The first six months of our investigation focussed on the conduct of these three companies. During that time we asked each of the companies to substantiate the claims they made about compliance with the Standard.

On 4 March 2016 we announced we had asked two companies to stop selling steel mesh until our concerns were resolved. As a result of the information received during our initial investigation, in March and April 2016 we extended the investigation to other mesh suppliers. In April and May the Commission entered into enforceable undertakings with three companies that ensure 500E grade steel mesh can only be sold once it passes specific stringent testing. These undertakings are still in place.

In November 2016, the Government made changes to testing requirements, increasing the number of samples which need to be tested, clarifying how that testing is done and requiring testing be done by internationally accredited testing laboratories. The changes will be implemented by 30 May 2017.

Previous media releases

- March 4th – Commerce Commission investigating whether steel mesh complies with standard- April 6th – Update on steel mesh investigation- April 22nd – Commission lifts ‘stop’ on Euro Corporation’s steel mesh- April 29th – Update on Commerce Commission steel mesh investigation- June 1st – Commission lifts ‘stop’ on Brilliance Steel’s steel mesh

Enforcement Response Guidelines

When deciding the appropriate enforcement response for individual companies, the Commission considers a number of factors including how serious the potential breach is and the potential harm caused to consumers. The Commission’s Enforcement Response Guidelines outline the enforcement responses available and what factors are taken into account when deciding which response to use.

Steel & Tube Holdings boss Dave Taylor says a "dramatic upswing" in coking coal prices and higher iron ore prices meant there needs to be a hike in domestic steel prices in New Zealand next year.

Taylor made the comments in a presentation at the company's annual meeting in Wellington. The price of premium hard coking coal reached US$307.20 a ton last week from US$85 a ton at the start of June, according to Reuters. Iron ore futures have also climbed to reach about US$70 a metric ton.

Higher coal costs add about US$140 (NZ$200) to a tonne of steel and the rise in iron ore amounted to another $40 increase per tonne of steel, he said. "Already steel prices have shown an upward trend, with steel mills no longer able to absorb this cost increase. These key cost contributors all point to a substantial price increase across all steel products that we expect will impact domestic steel prices in New Zealand very early in calendar year 2017".  Continue to full article

Darren’s knowledge and expertise are a strong fit for SCNZ as the organisation moves forward. He has 28 years of sales and marketing, and business development experience, gained largely in the building and construction industry. He joins SCNZ from Fletcher Aluminium, a division of Fletcher Building, where he was for 16 years. Prior to that Darren held positions at BHP New Zealand Steel, Solid Energy, Marley NZ and Plyco Doors. He has also just ended his time on the board of industry organisation the Window Association NZ where he served for 12 years, seven as Chairman.

Darren says: "I’m delighted to be joining such a progressive industry. In the last decade New Zealand’s structural steel sector has invested significantly in people, equipment and technology to boost capacity, quality and efficiency. It has proactively introduced Steel Fabricator Certification, an industry-led quality initiative to set itself apart from offshore suppliers.

"The present climate presents both challenges and opportunities. I’m looking forward to supporting the industry on the next phase of its journey as it continues to grow and develop."

Darren replaces Alistair Fussell, who is stepping down from the role after 11 years. Alistair plans to establish a structural engineering consultancy and will continue his association with SCNZ on a contract basis.