Daido Steel to add stainless remelt capacity

Japan-based Daido Steel Co. Ltd.  and its President Takeshi Ishiguro have announced the company will ramp up vacuum arc melting and recycling equipment to further increase production of high-grade steel such as nickel-based alloys and clean stainless steel.

The company expects demand for those products to expand in the future, so vacuum arc recycling (VAR) furnaces will be added to its Chita No. 2 Plant near Nagoya, Japan.

Daido will invest 5.2 billion yen ($39.8 million) in the project, which is expected to begin operating by the end of its fiscal year 2024.

“For high-grade steel, such as nickel-based alloys and clean stainless steel, steel ingots melted in a vacuum induction furnace are re-melted with special melting equipment to improve the cleanliness and homogeneity of the product interior, thereby improving the strength and service life of the parts,” Daido states. “This product can be used in a variety of harsh environments, such as aircraft engines and semiconductor manufacturing equipment."

Daido says the resulting products contribute “to the realization of a carbon-neutral and digital society, and it is expected that demand will continue to increase in the future.”

The company currently operates one VAR unit and a 25-ton vacuum induction furnace (VIM) at its Shibukawa Plant northwest of Tokyo. “For the expansion this time, we decided to establish a new facility at the Chita No. 2 Factory, which has sufficient space, because the Shibukawa factory cannot currently secure space for additional VARs,” Daido notes.

“Through this investment, we will increase the ratio of high-grade steel products and strive to contribute to society and stabilize our business.”