Industry Update
V-ZUG uses Outokumpu Circle Green ® the vessels that will reach the maximum age of 20 years accepted by most chemical shippers between 2028 and 2030 . GEFO ’ s fleet comprises a total of 150 tankers , including chemical , gas and mineral oil tankers , which are deployed on the Rhine and in the ARA ( Antwerp / Rotterdam / Amsterdam ) chemical triangle .
NAS celebrates Ghent facility expansion
Outokumpu is partnering with V-ZUG to agree on deliveries of the world ’ s first towards-zero stainless steel . Outokumpu Circle Green ® will be used to produce V-ZUG Dishwasher internal parts . V-ZUG will be the first Swiss home appliance company to use Outokumpu Circle Green in its production . The collaboration supports the ambitious climate targets of both companies and accelerates the green transition in the home appliance sector . Circle Green production was the first of its kind globally , as no other stainless steel manufacturer has been able to produce stainless steel with such low emission levels when taking into account all of the greenhouse gas emissions from raw material extraction through the whole production chain . To produce Circle Green , which has up to 93 % lower carbon footprint , Outokumpu uses 100 % low-carbon electricity , low-carbon raw materials such as recycled steel , and reinvented production processes .
GEFO invests in stainless chemical tankers
North American Stainless ( NAS ) celebrated the one-year mark of the Ghent facility ’ s USD 244M expansion . The expansion will add 70 new jobs to the Ghent facility and will boost NAS ’ total capacity . With its 4.4 million-square-foot facility in Carroll County , NAS is the largest fully integrated stainless steel producer in the United States . NAS offers a full range of stainless flat products including slabs , billets , plate , sheet and strip , as well as long products including wire , rods , angles and rebar . NAS ’ plans for the project include a new cold rolling mill , roll grinders , and temper mill ; an extensive upgrade of its annealing and picking lines to support the new rolling mill ; and an expansion of the Melt Shop Building . The expansion will be completed by the end of 2025 .
Carmo & Forsstrom to develop welding machines
GEFO will invest a ‘ three-digit million amount ’ in ten new 3,850 dwt tankers . The units have been ordered at Xiangyu shipyard in Nantong , China , and are planned for delivery between 2026 and 2028 . The special tankers will have stainless steel tanks for chemical cargoes . The new sea-going vessels have been further optimized compared to the company ’ s last series so that they consume less fuel and produce correspondingly lower emissions . These newbuilds will serve to expand GEFO ’ s fleet and replace some of
Carmo and Forsstrom HF have partnered up on the development and sales of high-frequency ( HF ) welding machines . The first result of the partnership is a new version of Carmo ’ s HF welding machine CP9 . Forsstrom has worked on developing and retrofitting Carmo ’ s HF welding machines several times . Starting with this agreement , these projects will be serially produced and made available to a wider market .
56 Stainless Steel World April 2024 www . stainless-steel-world . net