Chinese demand for steel will continue to grow this year, but not at the breakneck pace of 2003, the head of China's largest steel producing company said while in Pittsburgh on Monday to sign a research pact with Carnegie Mellon University.
Speaking through a translator, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. President Ai Baojun said increased demand, higher raw materials prices and higher steel prices reflect a recovery of the world steel market that provide "excellent opportunities for many countries." Baoshan has more than 100,000 employees and produced 11.5 metric tons of steel last year.
Ai and a delegation of executives from his company signed a research and development agreement with Carnegie Mellon's engineering department. The three-year, $100,000 pact will include student exchanges as well as an initial research project looking at methods of casting steel strip products.
The school and Baoshan will look at the science behind strip casting, as well as areas where the method might be beneficial. Strip casting is the process of making steel strips directly from molten steel using a casting machine. Currently strip is cut from sheets that are hot-rolled from slabs. Steel strip is used in a wide range of products, including automobiles, household appliances and tool-and-die industry applications.
"The process is simplified and there's no need for hot rolling," said Alan Cramb, head of Carnegie Mellon's materials science and engineering department. "The technology, right now, is in its very early stages."
Carnegie Mellon engineering students and faculty members will have opportunities to work with the Shanghai-based company in China, while employees of Baoshan will be able to study and perform research in Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Mellon Provost Mark Kamlet said the university has similar agreements with other manufacturing companies, including Kennametal Inc., Boeing Co. and Caterpillar Inc. This is the university's first research agreement with a Chinese company.
Ai said Baoshan hopes the agreement will help contain research and development costs for the company, which delivers about 85 percent of its finished products to China's domestic market. China's increasing demand for steel has pushed up steel prices, as well as prices for raw materials used in steel making, including coke and scrap metal.
