Professor: Low Prices Leaves Less for Steel Research
05/16/2016 - New research tools are allowing metallurgists to gain an even better understanding of steel’s molecular structures, opening windows of insight into existing products and opening doors that could lead to improved processes.
But a lack of resources may prevent some steelmakers from walking through those doors, said Deakin University professor Peter D. Hodgson.
Hodgson, who delivered the J. Keith Brimacombe Memorial Lecture at AISTech 2016, said steelmakers have developed advanced characterizations of steel and are learning more about the relationships between microstructure and physical attributes.
But given the state of the markets, mills generally have put a greater emphasis on lowering production costs, and applying the new knowledge to innovation has taken a back seat, said Hodgson, who is the interim deputy vice chancellor of research at the Australian university.
However, Chinese manufacturers are continuing to invest in developing new products, he said, and not necessarily to compete with the West.
Hodgson said that as western nations impose trade measures, exporting excess production has become less financially feasible for Chinese mills. That has forced steelmakers there to compete more among each other, driving them to seek out ways to stand out in an extremely crowded market, he said.
Hodgson, who delivered the J. Keith Brimacombe Memorial Lecture at AISTech 2016, said steelmakers have developed advanced characterizations of steel and are learning more about the relationships between microstructure and physical attributes.
But given the state of the markets, mills generally have put a greater emphasis on lowering production costs, and applying the new knowledge to innovation has taken a back seat, said Hodgson, who is the interim deputy vice chancellor of research at the Australian university.
However, Chinese manufacturers are continuing to invest in developing new products, he said, and not necessarily to compete with the West.
Hodgson said that as western nations impose trade measures, exporting excess production has become less financially feasible for Chinese mills. That has forced steelmakers there to compete more among each other, driving them to seek out ways to stand out in an extremely crowded market, he said.
