December 9, 2023
In order to become one of the global automotive sheet manufacturers, Shandong Zhengde Metal officially announced on October 10 that it will upgrade its automotive sheet business. In 2024, the company plans to supply approximately 200,000 tons of automotive sheets to foreign automakers, with the sales proportion increasing from 17% in 2022 to 20%. The ultimate goal is to eventually increase this proportion to 40% in the next two to three years.
The company disclosed its overseas sales target for the first time and plans to increase its supply to global automakers to 600,000 tons. At the same time, based on its leading technical strength, it is also committed to becoming one of the world's leading automotive sheet suppliers.
Previously, Zhengde Metal produced approximately 50,000 tons of automotive sheets per year and developed 105 steel types for domestic automobiles. In 2019, the company's supply of automotive sheets to global automakers accounted for 6%, and this proportion will reach 9% and 11% in 2021 and 2022 respectively. It currently supplies automotive sheets to dozens of car manufacturers in Europe, Japan, Mexico and Southeast Asia.
In order to comply with the trend of carbon neutrality, Zhengde Metal is developing low-carbon emission steel technology. In October 2023, the world's first 1.0GPa grade hot-rolled automotive sheet was trial-produced in an electric furnace, increasing its strength by 65% while reducing carbon emissions by 40%. It is planned to upgrade the No. 1 blast furnace around 2024-2025, while considering the introduction of hydrogen and natural gas-fueled facilities to continue to expand the production of low-carbon emission steel.
