[ Editorial ]
[ Editorial ]
Volume 38, April 2026
Stainless Steel World is the global magazine for corrosion resistant alloy users, suppliers and fabricators. www. stainless-steel-world. net
Group Director- KCI Media Group Elisa Hannan e. hannan @ kci-world. com Tel: + 31 575 585 291
General Manager, KCI Publishing B. V. Pieter Dutman p. dutman @ kci-world. com Tel: + 31 622 004 851
Editor-in-Chief Joanne McIntyre j. mcintyre @ kci-world. com Tel: + 31 575 585294
Editorial Team( print & online) press. ssw @ kci-world. com Iryna Mukha i. mukha @ kci-world. com Gert Wijbrans g. wijbrans @ kci-world. com Madeline McNabb m. mcnabb @ kci-world. com Lyndsey Denton-Fray l. dentonfray @ kci-world. com
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Small but perfectly formed
“ Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way” Booker T Washinton, 1856 – 1915, American Educator, author & orator
This month, our special focus is on duplex stainless steel, which makes up a small but significant proportion of the stainless grades used globally. While duplexes represent a relatively small share of total global stainless steel consumption- roughly around 3 – 5 %- they are a rock-star category of material valued for combining high mechanical strength with excellent corrosion resistance, particularly in chloride-rich environments such as offshore, desalination, and chemical processing. Their balanced ferritic – austenitic microstructure provides strong resistance to pitting, crevice corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking while still allowing reliable fabrication and welding. With lower nickel content and the ability to use thinner sections due to their high strength, duplex grades often deliver both technical and economic advantages over conventional stainless steels. Really, it’ s hard to understand why they aren’ t used more often!
As David Sear highlights in his feature article, duplex’ s popularity could increase further in 2026, thanks to research into new grades as well as work underway to deepen understanding of topics such as welding, heat treatment and fire resistance. No wonder many forecasts predict duplex’ s market growth will outpace all other stainless steel grades – watch this space!
Our feature on the use of stainless steels in the pharmaceutical industry also showcases the strengths of duplexes, which are used in items such as heat exchangers, pressure vessels and reactors where strength and corrosion resistance are essential.
Desalination is another important application, and our article from Starvalve looks at how equipment in these massive plants benefits from the characteristics of duplex.
We are pleased to welcome BUTTING Group back to the cover this month. They are firmly in the rock star category themselves, with their 250 th anniversary coming up next year. That’ s about the same time Captain Cook first set foot in my home country of New Zealand! Over the years BUTTING has continuously innovated and today offers solutions for highly complex applications. Another remarkable feature is that they are still family owned – the eighth generation of the family is now gradually being introduced to the company. You can read about the latest developments with the Group from page 8.
Finally, Duplex World Conference & Expo is taking place on 6 & 7 May in Rotterdam – be sure to join us for this unique event! I’ ve included the full conference program so you can plan your visit. Discussion panels, workshops, keynotes and of course technical sessions ensure there is something for everyone. I hope to see you in Rotterdam!
Best wishes, Joanne McIntyre Editor-in-Chief of Stainless Steel World j. mcintyre @ kci-world. com
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