Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive (VAMA), a joint venture between steelmakers Valin Steel and ArcelorMittal, commenced their second phase expansion at their Loudi project which will add a new hot-dip galvanizing line. The phase will add an annual capacity of 450,000mt of high-quality, high-strength automotive steel taking the company’s overall design capacity of 2mn mt.
The second phase of the project is likely to be operational by July 2022. The company receives hot-rolled coils from Lianyuan Steel, a subsidiary of Valin Steel located in Loudi, Hunan. VAMA then processes these coils further on its Pickling and Tandem Cold Rolling Mill with an annual capacity of 1.5mn mt.
The production line is designed to produce steel with new quality standards, along with a novel type of coating designed to offer better protection against corrosion. The product development is a part of VAMA’s vision to support the Chinese automotive sector to manufacture of electric vehicles.