The group officially began operations following a meeting held on 6 January and aims to transform China’s resource advantage in rare earth elements into industrial strength.
The meeting was hosted by the China Iron and Steel Association and jointly organized by Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union, Shanghai University, and the association’s Metallurgical Science and Technology Development Center. The new structure consists of two sub groups, namely rare earth steel for engineering equipment and rare earth applications in structural steel. Government bodies, steel producers, rare earth producers, universities, and research institutions are participating in these groups.
The initiative is expected to promote a more systematic, standards based, and widespread industrial use of rare earth steels. It is also seen as a strategic step toward converting China’s advantage in rare earth resources into industrial capacity.
Gan Yong, chairman of the expert committee and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, emphasized that China is both a major steel producer and a country rich in rare earth elements, underlining the strategic importance of integrating the two sectors. He stated that the effects of rare earth elements on steel are not yet fully understood, but China has accumulated extensive application data. Gan noted that developing low cost, large scale application projects could pave the way for so called second generation low cost, high performance super steel.
Huang Xiaowei, vice chairman of the expert committee and also a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, stated that the use of rare earth elements in steel is among the priority research areas in major national projects in China. He emphasized that significant progress has been achieved in low activity cerium iron alloy modifiers, rare earth steels for high tech equipment, and corrosion resistant structural steels.
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