Highlights
- Baogang Group successfully developed a rapid tundish exchange method for oriented silicon steel, reducing casting downtime by 3 hours per sequence.
- The technical advancement allows continuous casting without halting production when switching steel grades.
- This innovation increases output by 700 tons per cycle.
- The breakthrough supports China's strategic goals in high-performance tech markets, such as electric vehicles (EVs), transformers, and defense systems.
- Optimizes rare earth steel production.
Baogang Group (opens in a new tab) claims (opens in a new tab) to have pulled off a significant technical leap in its silicon steel production, achieving industry-leading continuous casting efficiency with its first successful “quick tundish exchange” on oriented silicon steel. This advancement—executed by the Rare Earth Steel Plate Plant—eliminates the long-standing need to halt casting when switching steel grades. It is a critical bottleneck for high-magnetism silicon steel, known as the "crown jewel of steel" due to its precision demands and brittleness.
The breakthrough follows months of targeted experimentation, technical adjustments, and workforce retraining. By cutting the tundish swap time to under 3 minutes and slashing downtime by 3 hours per sequence, Baogang can now boost output by 700 tons per cycle, significantly lifting throughput and contract delivery speed. This is not just a technical milestone—it’s a production game-changer.
For China’s broader rare earth ambitions, the implications are relevant. Baogang is optimizing upstream steel processes to serve high-performance tech markets, including EVs, transformers, and defense systems—all of which rely on high-grade magnetic materials. Enhanced silicon steel output supports downstream rare earth magnet demand, reinforcing China’s vertical integration strategy in critical materials—a direct challenge to Western efforts to build alternative supply chains. An important dynamic Rare Earth Exchanges monitors.
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