POSCO Magnesium Sheet Plant in Korea

Posted in Industry News on 23rd November 2011

William Rowland are a leading supplier of Magnesium.

Leading Korean steel maker, POSCO have begun building a plant in the southern city of Suncheon that will produce sheets of magnesium to be used in cars. POSCO say that the plant will be completed by August 2012 and will have an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes of magnesium sheets. Due to the third biggest steel maker in the world and the Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology in Pohang, commercial production may not begin until 2013 as they are currently developing cast technology for wider magnesium sheets.

There is already a magnesium sheet plant in the country that produces 3,000 tonnes of 600mm sheets. However magnesium sheets of this size are used in hard cases for mobile phones and laptops, and are not suitable for car manufacture. Therefore POSCO want to build a new plant dedicated to producing magnesium sheets up to 2,000mm.

Magnesium is the perfect material for this purpose as it is consistently durable and flexible. Not only does magnesium hold these characteristics it is also 25% lighter than steel and 70% lighter than aluminium. For these very reasons, magnesium is used in various applications.

By using magnesium in automobiles, the weight will decrease significantly. Despite these properties, aluminium usage is still far greater than that of magnesium, but most die cast parts in the automobile industry are in fact made from magnesium.

Wrought magnesium sheet usage offers an opportunity for growth in car door panels, engine bonnets, seat components, roofs and fenders. However the usage of magnesium sheet is stinted due to its high cost, poor room temperature ductility and its high susceptibility to corrosion.

William Rowland Ltd are magnesium suppliers, and if you would like to find out how we can meet your requirements, please contact us using the Quick Enquiry Form on the right-hand side of this website.

Tags: High Purity Metals News, Magnesium News, Metal Powders News