Shinhokoku Steel to Add New Testing Furnace in Mie Plant

Saitama based special steel and cast steel maker, Shinhokoku Steel Corporation introduces a 100kg testing furnace at the productive subsidiary, Shinhoku Steel Mie Corporation in May for around 20 million yen. The firm installs the same type testing furnace as the 50kg testing furnace at the headquarters to maintain the data continuity and realize new researching achievement for higher productivity at two R&D sites in Saitama and Mie.

Shinhokoku Steel mainly supplies low-expansion cast steel products. The firm’s all casting products are manufactured by normal atmosphere melting process utilizing high-frequency furnaces, not by vacuum melting process. In January 2010, the firm terminated cast steel production at the headquarters plant in Kawagoe City, Saitama and integrated cast steel production into Shinhokoku Steel Mie. R&D function was left at the headquarters.

Shinhokoku Steel Mie became the only productive site for cast steel, which succeeded the parent company’s unique technologies to manufacture heat- and abrasion-resistant cast steel and low-expansion cast steel. Heat- and abrasion-resistant cast steel is adopted to tools for seamless pipes. Low-expansion cast steel is mainly used for semiconductor and liquid crystal panel exposure apparatus. The plant has 3t, 1t and 500kg high-frequency furnaces. Shinhokoku Steel aims to accelerate organic innovations of researching and productive processes at Mie site.