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Corus IJmuiden Launches New Zinc-Based Hot-Dip Coating

05/12/2008 - International steel producer Corus is to launch a new hot-dip zinc-based metallic coating with superior corrosion properties and the potential to significantly decrease coating thickness.

Corus is launching a new hot-dip, zinc-based metallic coating that has demonstrated corrosion resistance that is “at least four times as effective for the same coating thickness as products galvanized with zinc alone,” according to tests conducted by the company. 
 
Manufactured at Corus in IJmuiden in the Netherlands, the new state-of-the-art product, MagiZinc®, consists primarily of zinc, with additions of magnesium and aluminum. Beginning with lab-scale and pilot line trials by Corus’ R&D department, Corus went on to optimize the MagiZinc coating in a number of production trials in cooperation with development partner Salzgitter AG. Material application trials—including forming and joining—were carried out at selected customers with good results.
 
Because of its superior corrosion protection (as compared with conventional zinc coatings), MagiZinc offers the potential to reduce the metallic coating weight while still improving the properties of the material. The thinner and lighter coating layers could result in up to 4% more square meters per tonne of material for the end customers.
 
MagiZinc will provide significant savings for customers in total costs for all applications that currently use thin hot-dip galvanized steel with a zinc coating of 275 g/m2. The great improvements in corrosion performance made possible with MagiZinc can be used in for example the construction industry. Applications are, amongst others, channels for ventilation systems and cable trays in large commercial and residential buildings. MagiZinc can also be applied in the automotive sector.
 
Corus is now aiming to replace products with a 275 g/m2 zinc coating with a MagiZinc coating of 140 g/m2. Even thinner coating layers are also under development.
 
Corus Strip Products IJmuiden (The Netherlands) is one of the largest and most efficient integrated steelmaking facilities in Europe, annually producing about 7.5 million tonnes of high quality strip and coated steel products for the automotive, construction and packaging sectors.
 
Corus is Europe's second-largest steel producer with annual revenues of over £11 billion (€ 14 billion) and a crude steel production of about 20 million tonnes. With main steelmaking operations primarily in the U.K. and the Netherlands, Corus provides innovative solutions to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering and other markets worldwide. Corus is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, the world's sixth-largest and second-most-global steel producer. With a combined presence in nearly 50 countries, Tata Steel including Corus has over 82,000 employees across five continents.