Tata Steel will invest EUR2.3m (USD3.1m, 8 February 2013) in its plant in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands, to develop ultra high strength automotive steel, according to the company’s press release. The steel will be light in weight, stronger and will be better able to withstand crashes, says the company. For this, the company has collaborated with numerous European carmakers to better understand their requirements for upcoming models. Further, Tata Steel will assist its customers as they integrate the new ultra high strength steels into future vehicles.
The facility in the Netherlands has a hot press forming line that presses heated steel sheets into vehicle parts. The company says hot press forming is being increasingly used by OEMs and suppliers to produce complex body parts. For this, the steel should be light in weight and should have high strength. “Such is the growth in their use that hot formed parts make up more than 20%, by weight, of some recently launched car models”, said Tata Steel.
Significance: By working in close collaboration with customers, Tata Steel aims to ensure that the product matches the desired standards laid down by its customers. “This upgraded facility will enable us to work more closely with them (customers), not only to develop the new, advanced steels they increasingly require, but also to help them improve their performance when they process these steels using their own equipment”, said Henrik Adam, Chief Commercial Officer of Tata Steel in Europe.
Tata Steel has been expanding its product offerings to the automotive industry. For instance, the company is developing zinc-coated boron steels which it claims offer superior corrosion resistance compared to other boron steel grades. In June last year, the company launched a zinc-coated boron steel product under the trade name HQ1500 ZnX®.
