November 21, 2008

Baosteel oil tempered wire for suspension shares over half of the domestic market

It is reported that Baosteel Group No 2 Steel has become the largest supplier in China for oil tempered wire for suspension, sharing over half of the domestic market since it succeeded in R&D of the product 5 years ago, a result of independent technical innovation based on high starting point.

Oil tempered wire is a fine variety of steel products, widely applied in such fields as automotive suspension and engine system, precision machinery manufacture, etc. Featured by big load bearing, high motion frequency and long safe service life, it involves most strict requirements on the surface quality and internal properties of the coil rod.

The demand for such product in the domestic market basically relied on import over a long period of time. At the same time the oil tempering process for spring wire production involves higher requirement on process flow control, more difficult in technology compared with the conventional cold drawing production process. In recent years, the market demand for high quality oil tempered wire soared with the high speed development of automotive and machinery manufacturing industries in China.

The foreign suppliers, to keep cornering Chinese oil tempered wire market, not only drive up the price of the raw materials but also restrict the supply volume.