ArcelorMittal Invests €7.2m in a New Galvanizing Line for Florange
10/08/2012 - ArcelorMittal Florange has recently started test runs at its new galvanizing line in Sainte-Agathe, France. The line will be used to coat Usibor®, a press-hardened boron steel used in automotive applications.
ArcelorMittal Florange has recently started test runs at its new galvanizing line in Sainte-Agathe, France. The line will be used to coat Usibor®, a press-hardened boron steel used in automotive applications.
This news comes six months after the announcement of a €17m investment in Florange for maintenance work, a new gas holder for the coke plant and the development of other products for the automotive industry.
Usibor® is a press-hardened steel with an aluminium-silicon (AlSi) coating. This pre-coated solution was patented in 1998 by Mouzon (our first Alusi coating line) and Fos-Sur-Mer, both in France. Usibor® 1500P was then introduced by our Maizières research and development team in 2003.
Between 2012 and 2016, demand for AlSi is expected to grow by 250%. Given the rapid increase in demand from car makers worldwide, ArcelorMittal is facing the urgent need to increase its production capacity for AlSi coating.
ArcelorMittal is a worldwide leader in such coated steels, while our global market share in the automotive market is 18%, and 47% in Europe.
Made of carbon, manganese and boron, Usibor® allows greater quenchability in the hot stamping process and is used mainly in structural and safety applications, including front and rear bumper beams, door reinforcements, windscreen upright reinforcements, b-pillar reinforcements and floor and roof reinforcements.
Thanks to its very high mechanical properties after hot stamping, Usibor® meets the requirements of our automotive customers for lighter vehicles and has therefore been integrated into ArcelorMittal’s highly successful S-in motion steel solutions.
The main features of Usibor® 1500P are:
- Exceptional fatigue and impact resistance
- High hot formability
- No spring-back on the final parts
- Excellent corrosion resistance
- Substantial thickness and weight reduction
- A significant decrease in the cost of car bodies manufacturing
