JFE Steel Corporation (“JFE Steel”) and Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE:6501, “Hitachi”) today announced that they have started to provide a solution (the “Solution”), which combines JFE Steel’s consulting programs and Hitachi’s automatic cold-rolling flatness control system, to steel companies in both Japan and overseas. The Solution features the combination of Hitachi’s system, which uses an artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically control the steel sheet flattening process by a rolling mill, and JFE Steel’s consulting programs (regarding the introduction of systems and optimal operations), a service that leverages its high-level operational expertise in ways that meets customer needs.Traditionally, wavy steel sheets are flattened by a rolling mill that must be finely adjusted manually by skilled operators. The Solution will address relevant issues such as the deterioration of yields due to differences in operators’ technical skills and the transfer of expert skills, and in addition, help customers improve their skills and product quality.
The JFE Group has been working to improve production efficiency and yields and drastically enhance labor productivity through the DX-driven introduction of new technologies. In addition, it has been promoting a solution business to provide a broad range of customers engaging in manufacturing businesses with methods for producing high value-added products, which the Group has developed through the operation and management of steelworks, and technological, operational and research expertise to address issues related to facility maintenance and environmental load reduction.
Hitachi has been offering Lumada*1 solutions to accelerate DX by leveraging products, OT (operational technologies) and IT, which it has developed over many years as a manufacturing company, as well as a wealth of knowledge and expertise (domain knowledge) that it has acquired through the provision of solutions to issues faced by customers operating in broad areas and domains in the manufacturing industry. In the steel business area, it has been globally promoting facilities, process lines, control systems and other equipment for plants as a comprehensive system.
Background
The transfer of operators’ skills is a major issue on the front lines of the steel manufacturing industry, in which a generational change is underway. To flatten wavy steel, which occurs at each side or in the center of a steel sheet during the manufacturing of steel sheets, it is necessary for the operator to measure waviness and implement feedback-based control while simultaneously manually making fine adjustments. Inexperienced operators find it difficult to manufacture products with different shape accuracy and quality requirements compared to skilled operators, which can lead to poor product yield and breakage issues due to shape defects. To address such issues, Hitachi developed a technology that automatically performs high-quality shape control in 2017*2, which features a process in which AI learns the relationship between operational data about highly skilled operators and data about the shapes of steel sheets, enabling the results of this learning to be reflected in the output of the control system. It has been providing the technology as an automatic cold-rolling flatness control system in Japan and also overseas. JFE Steel introduced the system on its production lines in 2021. Since then, it has been achieving a great deal, such as improved product yields, higher utilization rates and reduced operator workload through automation. Moreover, enabling the operational knowledge and expertise of skilled operators to be reflected in automated processes led to increased productivity and the stabilization of product quality through the prevention of problems.
Building on these results, JFE Steel and Hitachi started to provide the Solution combining the two companies’ strengths with a view toward addressing the issues faced by their customers in cold-rolling-based manufacturing. The two companies will work together to consider the configuration and make adjustments to the system that is optimal for customers’ installation.
(1) Lumada: A collective term for solutions, services and technologies based on Hitachi’s advanced digital technologies for creating value from customers’ data accelerating digital innovation (2) Hitachi, Ltd. news release titled “Hitachi Develops Real-Time Control Technology of Cold Rolling Plants for Steel Plants Using AI” announced on October 31, 2017.
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Nippon Steel Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation and ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly study carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the establishment of potential CCS value chains in the Asia Pacific regions on January 25, 2023.
Based on the Memorandum, the three companies will conduct research on the capture of CO2 emissions from Nippon Steel’s domestic steelworks and evaluate the necessary infrastructure development required, with a view to establishing CCS value chains in the Asia-Pacific region. It would also include a detailed evaluation of Asia Pacific storage opportunities, including in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Mitsubishi Corporation plans to evaluate the overseas CO2 transportation and the development of CCS value chain. This is the first study to develop value chains for carbon capture in Japan with the aim to store elsewhere overseas in the region.
Nippon Steel set forth the “Nippon Steel Carbon Neutral Vision 2050” in its medium- to long-term management plan announced in March 2021 and positioned CCS as one of the key technologies to realize this vision. Through this study, Nippon Steel will progress the implementation of CCS including securing storage sites for overseas storage of CO2 generated from steel works, developing storage infrastructure, advocating for policies and regulation, and examining its cost adequacy.
Mitsubishi Corporation has identified Energy Transformation (EX) as a key initiative in its Roadmap for a Carbon Neutral Society formulated in October 2021 and its Medium-Term Management Strategy 2024 released in May last year. Mitsubishi Corporation will evaluate the overseas CO2 transportation and the development of CCS value chain through this joint effort.
ExxonMobil continues to advance innovative solutions for a lower-carbon future. In early 2021, it established a Low Carbon Solutions business, which is working to bring lower-emission technologies to market, making them accessible to hard-to-decarbonize industries. It is committed to accelerating significant emission reductions through strategic collaborations and through leading the development and the deployment of scalable lower-emission technologies, such as CCS, needed to advance solutions for various industries in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Mitsubishi Corporation will continue to lead EX through the low-carbon and decarbonization of our business through CCS and other initiatives, while contributing to the transition and realization of a carbon-neutral society through the stable supply of cleaner energy.
About Nippon Steel Corporation
Nippon Steel Corporation is Japan’s largest and one of the world’s leading integrated steel producers with a wide range of value-added steel products in more than 15 countries. Nippon Steel has four business segments: steelmaking and steel fabrication, engineering and construction, chemicals and materials, and system solutions. With the aim of continually growing to become “the best steelmaker with world-leading capabilities” from the present and into the future, Nippon Steel will pursue world-leading technologies and manufacturing capabilities, and contribute to society by providing excellent products and services. For more information about Nippon Steel please visit: www.nipponsteel.com/
About Mitsubishi Corporation
Mitsubishi Corporation works with its roughly 1,700 subsidiaries, affiliates and group companies to develop businesses in approximately 90 countries around the world. Spanning multiple industries and regions, these businesses are overseen by Mitsubishi Corporation’s Industry DX Group and 10 Business Groups: Natural Gas, Industrial Materials, Petroleum & Chemicals, Mineral Resources, Industrial Infrastructure, Automotive & Mobility, Food Industry, Consumer Industry, Power Solution, and Urban Development. Through joint digital (DX) and energy (EX) transformations invested in sustainability, decarbonization and digitalization, the company is now focused on leveraging its operations to address myriad challenges that stand to impact our planet’s future.
About ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil, one of the largest publicly traded international energy and petrochemical companies, creates solutions that improve quality of life and meet society’s evolving needs. The corporation’s primary businesses – Upstream, Product Solutions and Low Carbon Solutions – provide products that enable modern life, including energy, chemicals, lubricants, and lower-emissions technologies. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading portfolio of resources, and is one of the largest integrated fuels, lubricants and chemical companies in the world. The Singapore affiliate, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., has manufacturing facilities which include an integrated world-scale refining and petrochemical complex in Jurong and Jurong Island. Our operations and businesses serve customers and commercial markets in the region with ground transportation, industrial, aviation and marine fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and liquefied natural gas. To learn more, visit exxonmobil.com and the Energy Factor. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Nippon Steel Corporation, Public Relations Center Tel: 03-6867-2977
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) held its 50th Annual General Meeting, today at Company’s headquarter in New Delhi. Smt. Soma Mondal, Chairman, SAIL addressed the shareholders in the meeting, held through a virtual platform.
In her address Smt. Mondal highlighted the achievements of the Company during fiscal 2021-22 underlined the future action plan of the Company. SAIL has posted the best ever production performance by producing 18.733 million tonne (MT) of hot metal and 17.366 MT of crude Steel during FY’22. For the first time the Company entered into the elite club of Indian Companies having a turnover above rupees one lakh crore. The turnover of Rs. 1.03 lakh crore during FY’22 saw substantial growth of more than 50% over the previous best of Rs.68452 crore achieved during FY’21. The increase in turnover coupled with improved operational performance helped the Company achieve its highest ever numbers in terms of profitability.
Smt Mondal described the year 2022 as a milestone year for the country as India completed 75 glorious years of independence and denoted it as an extraordinary milestone in the journey of modern India which assumes further significance in the light of India’s preparedness to gravitate forward into India 2.0. SAIL is prepared to contribute to this growth story of India by capitalizing on the intrinsic strength and resources at disposal , the Chairman added.
Smt Mondal highlighted SAIL’s role as a conscientious ethical corporate and stated that the focus is on meeting the ESG goals. In times to come, SAIL would be making many more interventions to curtail carbon emission to meet global standards. With due emphasis on sustainability, the Company is continuously improving upon its processes, product basket, policies while building an ambitious roadmap for the future, the Chairman further stated.
Promoting Circular Economy is one of priority areas of the Government. The steel industry is an integral part of the circular economy. Steel is ideally suited to be remanufactured, reused and ultimately recycled.
In this background, a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to Ministry of Steel under the Chairmanship of the Steel Minister was convened today at Tirupati to discuss the topic “Roadmap for Circular Economy in Steel Sector”. During the meeting, the concept of circular economy was explained which involves minimization of use of natural resources. This also involves adoption of principle of 6Rs i.e. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture with the objective to increase material resource efficiency and reduce impact on environment.
The Chairman of the Committee, Steel Minister Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh highlighted the immense possibilities of utilization of waste generated during mining, steel manufacturing process and end of life products. The Chairman appreciated the suggestions and emphasized that this will boost the investment, employment and growth and is in line with the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister for promoting Circular Economy. Chairman urged upon the stakeholders to take definitive steps towards promoting circular economy and Waste to Wealth in the steel sector
The committee was apprised that manufacturing steel through scrap and other waste products is a step towards Green Steel. It was also highlighted that various wastes, scrap and by-products generated during mining and steel making can be effectively used for making steel and other applications like cement manufacture, road construction, agriculture etc.
In the meeting, discussions were held with the Members of the Committee on the opportunities, benefits, challenges and way forward for creating circular economy in the steel sector. The members of the Committee appreciated the work being done by the Steel Ministry and suggested various steps for achieving the objective of circular economy in the steel sector. The members of the committee also emphasized the need to create awareness and increase the use of steel, especially in the rural areas. The increase in consumption of steel will lead to increase in availability of steel scrap in the future. The members advised that steps should be taken for integration of informal sector into the formal sector which will help in creating a conducive ecosystem for circular economy in the steel sector.
Union Minister of Steel Sh. Ram Chandra Prasad Singh today inaugurated the first six lane highway road made by using Steel Slag at Surat, Gujrat to connect the port with the city. While inaugurating the road, the Minister impressed upon the need to promote circular economy and resource efficiency by converting all waste into wealth.
Recalling the words of the Prime Minister in his 15th August 2021 speech, Minister Sh Singh made special reference on the need to promote circular economy as the world is witnessing depletion of all types of natural resources. In such a scenario, circular economy is the demand of the hour and need to be made mandatory as a part of our lives. The road constructed by 100% use of steel processed slag is a real example of converting waste into wealth and improving sustainability of steel plants, he added. The Minister further said that the use of such material in road construction shall not only Increase durability but also help in reducing the cost of construction as slag-based materials are having better properties than natural aggregates. The experience gained from this road shall be utilized for developing detailed guidelines for widespread usages of steel slag in construction.
The Steel Minister further said that his Ministry is exploring all other options to utilize such materials in road construction, agriculture as a replacement to soil nutrients and fertilizers, ballast for railways and making green cement. Steel Ministry has already awarded several R&D projects for utilization of different types of slags generated during manufacturing of steel and majority of which are being considered as a liability. The road constructed by using steel slag is also part of the R&D project sponsored by the Ministry along with other major steel players.
The use of steel slag in road construction shall address the shortage of natural aggregates in the country as the production of steel slag in the country from different process routes is likely to increase from present by 2030.
