16 November, 2011

Kobe Steel Ltd. with its partners has decided to expand the production capacity of their Chinese joint venture, Kobe Special Steel Wire Products (Pinghu) Co., Ltd. The other joint venture partners are Shinsho Corporation, Osaka Seiko Co., Ltd. and Meihoku Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Kobe Special Steel Wire Products (or KSP) began operations in 2009. KSP’s 710-million-yen (USD 9.2 million) capital investment will expand the production capacity of CH wire and enable the manufacture of bearing steel wire.

KSP plans to add two wire drawing machines to the existing three units, yielding a total of five machines. Wire drawing capacity will increase from the current 2,100 metric tons per month to 3,350 metric tons per month. An additional STC (Short Time Cycle) annealing furnace will also be installed for a total of two units.

To house the new equipment, a 3,100-square-meter building will be constructed and will house three cranes. The power source equipment will also be boosted. Start-up is anticipated to gradually begin in July 2012, as the installation of each piece of equipment is completed.