JFE Steel Corporation, which is expanding the electrical steel sheet capacity of its West Japan Works (Kurashiki Area) for startup targeted at the first half of the fiscal year starting in April 2024, is now planning an additional expansion targeted at a startup in the fiscal year beginning April 2026.
The additional expansion, which will cost some ¥50.0 billion (US$377 million), will triple the works’ current capacity for top-grade non-oriented electrical steel (NOES) sheets used in the traction motors of electric vehicles.
Electrical steel sheet, which contains additives such as silicon and aluminum, offers excellent magnetic properties including high magnetic flux density and low iron loss. Two types of sheet are available. Non-oriented electrical steel sheet (NOES), which offers excellent magnetic properties that are nearly uniform in all directions, is used in the cores of motors. Grain-oriented electrical steel sheet (GOES), which exhibits superior magnetic properties in a single (rolling) direction, is used in the iron cores of power and distribution transformers.(Earlier post.)
The current expansion, first announced in April 2021 and costing some ¥49.0 billion (US$370 million), will double the works’ existing capacity for top-grade non-oriented electrical steel sheet.
The demand for high-grade non-oriented electrical steel sheet products used in the drive motors of electric vehicles is expected to continue expanding in parallel with the further tightening of global environmental regulations. In response, JFE Steel has decided to further expand its production capacity to accommodate this rising demand.
JFE Steel expects to continue expanding its supply capacity for both types of electrical steel sheet in anticipation of further demand increases as automobiles become more electric, energy use becomes more efficient, and renewable energy is adopted more widely.
Posted on 07 February 2023 in Electric (Battery), Japan, Manufacturing, Market Background, Materials, Motors | Permalink | Comments (0)
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