[Nickel Pig Iron Daily Review] High-Grade NPI Continues Downward Trend, Smelters Implement Production Cuts Amid Cost Pressure

On February 8, the 6# line of the Phase II Bright Annealing (BA) unit at Xinfeng Special Steel’s cold continuous rolling stainless steel project successfully produced its first coil, with the 304-series material meeting qualification standards on its initial run. General contracted by WISDRI (South China) Thermal Engineering, the Phase II project utilizes a domestic-first four-stage horizontal bright annealing unit design, featuring the longest muffle and largest TV (Tension-Velocity) capacity in China. As a key component of Xinfeng’s strategy to build a green, intelligent factory, the line reached production capacity immediately upon commissioning and is currently undergoing further optimization and debugging to produce high-grade BA plates and tube-making stock.

According to TISCO (Shanxi Taigang), its independently developed SUS630 precipitation-hardening stainless steel cold-rolled plates are now being supplied steadily to domestic Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturers. Throughout the recent holiday period, the company's R&D and production teams maintained strict quality control to ensure the material meets the rigorous standards required for 5G communications, automotive electronics, and medical devices. As a core material for the hot lamination process in PCB manufacturing, SUS630 was long dependent on foreign imports; however, TISCO has now become the only stable domestic supplier, successfully breaking the technical blockade.

The Wenzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment officially issued and announced its approval decision regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Wenzhou Yigang Steel Co., Ltd.’s project. The approved project involves the annual processing of 700 tons of precision stainless steel tubes. This regulatory milestone clears a major legal hurdle for the facility, allowing the company to move forward with the construction and subsequent operation of its precision tube production capacity in line with regional environmental standards.