Brazilian steel sales and output decline in September

Brazilian sales of steel in September fell 20.7 percent, year-on-year, reaching 1.5 million mt,
according to data released on Monday by the nation’s steel institute, IABr. The trade group said domestic apparent consumption in the ninth month of the year declined 24.1 percent, year-on-year, to 1.7 million mt, while imports reached 224,000 mt at $188 million. IABr said Brazil’s crude steel production in September totaled 2.5 million mt, 13 percent down, year-on-year. Finished steel production in September reached 1.7 million mt, 23.1 percent down, year-on-year. According to IABr, accumulated steel sales for the period of January to September was 14.2 million mt, 14.3 percent down, year-on-year. Domestic apparent consumption and imports in the period reached 16.9 million mt and 2.8 million mt, respectively, with the first diminishing 14 percent, year-on-year. So far in the year, crude steel output reached 25.3 million mt, 1.2 percent down, year-on-year. Finished steel production in the nine-month period totaled 17.4 million mt, 8.2 percent down, year-on-year. Reflecting a more appreciated USD and the still weak domestic market, IABr said exports in September reached 1.6 million mt in volume and $680 million in revenues. From January to September, exports totaled 10 million mt and $5.2 billion, up 48.6 percent in terms of volume and 6.1 percent in terms of revenue, both on an year-on-year basis.

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie
sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading:Introduction of laser welding operation

Xi jinping chairman and Mrs Peng liyuan visited to the UK

SEKO Machinery Company’s employees today to watch the President visit to the UK's news, all of them were very extcied.

China's President Xi Jinping has said he believes his visit will lift UK-China relations to a "new height".

The UK and China were becoming more interdependent and a "community of shared interests," he said on the first full day of his four-day visit.

At a Buckingham Palace banquet, the Queen said this was a "very special year for our bilateral relationship".

The visit comes amid job losses in the UK steel sector, with cheap Chinese imports among factors being blamed.

The Queen described President Xi Jinping’s State visit to Britain as a “defining moment” in the future of Sino-UK relations last night as the Chinese leader spoke of the “everlasting friendship” between the two countries.

The Queen described the first State visit by a Chinese premier for 10 years as “a milestone in the unprecedented year of co-operation and friendship between the United Kingdom and China” as David Cameron and George Osborne pursue a policy of making Britain China’s most important European trading partner.

Among the guests were Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney.

Members of the royal family who attended included the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. -------------SEKO Machinery Company reported

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie
sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading: The development of gas tungsten arc welding

The quality of gas tungsten arc welding

Gas tungsten arc welding, because it affords greater control over the weld area than other welding processes, can produce high-quality welds when performed by skilled operators. Maximum weld quality is assured by maintaining cleanliness—all equipment and materials used must be free from oil, moisture, dirt and other impurities, as these cause weld porosity and consequently a decrease in weld strength and quality. To remove oil and grease, alcohol or similar commercial solvents may be used, while a stainless steel wire brush or chemical process can remove oxides from the surfaces of metals like aluminum. Rust on steels can be removed by first grit blasting the surface and then using a wire brush to remove any embedded grit. These steps are especially important when negative polarity direct current is used, because such a power supply provides no cleaning during the welding process, unlike positive polarity direct current or alternating current.[20] To maintain a clean weld pool during welding, the shielding gas flow should be sufficient and consistent so that the gas covers the weld and blocks impurities in the atmosphere. GTAW in windy or drafty environments increases the amount of shielding gas necessary to protect the weld, increasing the cost and making the process unpopular outdoors.

The level of heat input also affects weld quality. Low heat input, caused by low welding current or high welding speed, can limit penetration and cause the weld bead to lift away from the surface being welded. If there is too much heat input, however, the weld bead grows in width while the likelihood of excessive penetration and spatter increase. Additionally, if the welding torch is too far from the workpiece the shielding gas becomes ineffective, causing porosity within the weld. This results in a weld with pinholes, which is weaker than a typical weld.

If the amount of current used exceeds the capability of the electrode, tungsten inclusions in the weld may result. Known as tungsten spitting, this can be identified with radiography and can be prevented by changing the type of electrode or increasing the electrode diameter. In addition, if the electrode is not well protected by the gas shield or the operator accidentally allows it to contact the molten metal, it can become dirty or contaminated. This often causes the welding arc to become unstable, requiring that the electrode be ground with a diamond abrasive to remove the impurity.

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie
sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading: Xi jinping chairman and Mrs Peng liyuan visited to the UK

The development of gas tungsten arc welding

After the discovery of the short pulsed electric arc in 1800 by Humphry Davy and of the continuous electric arc in 1802 by Vasily Petrov, arc welding developed slowly. C. L. Coffin had the idea of welding in an inert gas atmosphere in 1890, but even in the early 20th century, welding non-ferrous materials such as aluminum and magnesium remained difficult because these metals react rapidly with the air and result in porous, dross-filled welds. Processes using flux-covered electrodes did not satisfactorily protect the weld area from contamination. To solve the problem, bottled inert gases were used in the beginning of the 1930s. A few years later, a direct current, gas-shielded welding process emerged in the aircraft industry for welding magnesium.

Russell Meredith of Northrop Aircraft perfected the process in 1941. Meredith named the process Heliarc because it used a tungsten electrode arc and helium as a shielding gas, but it is often referred to as tungsten inert gas welding (TIG); in parts of the world where tungsten is called wolfram, it is known as WIG. The American Welding Society's official term is gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Linde Air Products developed a wide range of air-cooled and water-cooled torches, gas lenses to improve shielding, and other accessories that increased the use of the process. Initially, the electrode overheated quickly and, despite tungsten's high melting temperature, particles of tungsten were transferred to the weld.[6] To address this problem, the polarity of the electrode was changed from positive to negative, but the change made it unsuitable for welding many non-ferrous materials. Finally, the development of alternating current units made it possible to stabilize the arc and produce high quality aluminum and magnesium welds.

Developments continued during the following decades. Linde developed water-cooled torches that helped prevent overheating when welding with high currents. During the 1950s, as the process continued to gain popularity, some users turned to carbon dioxide as an alternative to the more expensive welding atmospheres consisting of argon and helium, but this proved unacceptable for welding aluminum and magnesium because it reduced weld quality, so it is rarely used with GTAW today. The use of any shielding gas containing an oxygen compound, such as carbon dioxide, quickly contaminates the tungsten electrode, making it unsuitable for the TIG process. In 1953, a new process based on GTAW was developed, called plasma arc welding. It affords greater control and improves weld quality by using a nozzle to focus the electric arc, but is largely limited to automated systems, whereas GTAW remains primarily a manual, hand-held method.[10] Development within the GTAW process has continued as well, and today a number of variations exist. Among the most popular are the pulsed-current, manual programmed, hot-wire, dabber, and increased penetration GTAW methods.

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie

sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading:Production and Distribution of Iron Ore around the World（2）

How to operate the gas tungsten arc welding machine？

Manual gas tungsten arc welding is a relatively difficult welding method, due to the coordination required by the welder. Similar to torch welding, GTAW normally requires two hands, since most applications require that the welder manually feed a filler metal into the weld area with one hand while manipulating the welding torch in the other. Maintaining a short arc length, while preventing contact between the electrode and the workpiece, is also important.

To strike the welding arc, a high frequency generator (similar to a Tesla coil) provides an electric spark. This spark is a conductive path for the welding current through the shielding gas and allows the arc to be initiated while the electrode and the workpiece are separated, typically about 1.5–3 mm (0.06–0.12 in) apart.

Once the arc is struck, the welder moves the torch in a small circle to create a welding pool, the size of which depends on the size of the electrode and the amount of current. While maintaining a constant separation between the electrode and the workpiece, the operator then moves the torch back slightly and tilts it backward about 10–15 degrees from vertical. Filler metal is added manually to the front end of the weld pool as it is needed.

Welders often develop a technique of rapidly alternating between moving the torch forward (to advance the weld pool) and adding filler metal. The filler rod is withdrawn from the weld pool each time the electrode advances, but it is always kept inside the gas shield to prevent oxidation of its surface and contamination of the weld. Filler rods composed of metals with a low melting temperature, such as aluminum, require that the operator maintain some distance from the arc while staying inside the gas shield. If held too close to the arc, the filler rod can melt before it makes contact with the weld puddle. As the weld nears completion, the arc current is often gradually reduced to allow the weld crater to solidify and prevent the formation of crater cracks at the end of the weld

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie

sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading:Production and Distribution of Iron Ore around the World（2）

The raw materials of iron and steel

Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe3O4, 72.4% Fe), hematite (Fe2O3, 69.9% Fe), goethite (FeO(OH), 62.9% Fe), limonite (FeO(OH).n(H₂O)) or siderite (FeCO₃, 48.2% Fe).

Ores containing very high quantities of hematite or magnetite (greater than ~60% iron) are known as "natural ore" or "direct shipping ore", meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces. Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel. 98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel. Indeed, it has been argued that iron ore is "more integral to the global economy than any other commodity, except perhaps oil".

Metallic iron is virtually unknown on the surface of the Earth except as iron-nickel alloys from meteorites and very rare forms of deep mantle xenoliths. Although iron is the fourth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, comprising about 5%, the vast majority is bound in silicate or more rarely carbonate minerals. The thermodynamic barriers to separating pure iron from these minerals are formidable and energy intensive, therefore all sources of iron used by human industry exploit comparatively rarer iron oxide minerals, primarily hematite.

Prior to the industrial revolution, most iron was obtained from widely available goethite or bog ore, for example during the American Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Prehistoric societies used laterite as a source of iron ore. Historically, much of the iron ore utilized by industrialized societies has been mined from predominantly hematite deposits with grades of around 70% Fe. These deposits are commonly referred to as "direct shipping ores" or "natural ores". Increasing iron ore demand, coupled with the depletion of high-grade hematite ores in the United States, after World War II led to development of lower-grade iron ore sources, principally the utilization of magnetite and taconite. (Taconite is a rock whose iron content, commonly present as finely dispersed magnetite, is generally 25 to 30%.)

Iron-ore mining methods vary by the type of ore being mined. There are four main types of iron-ore deposits worked currently, depending on the mineralogy and geology of the ore deposits. These are magnetite, titanomagnetite, massive hematite and pisolitic ironstone deposits.

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie
sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading:The types of carbon steel

The introduction of iron

Iron is the world's most commonly used metal - steel, of which iron ore is the key ingredient, representing almost 95% of all metal used per year. It is used primarily in structural engineering applications and in maritime purposes, automobiles, and general industrial applications (machinery).

Iron-rich rocks are common worldwide, but ore-grade commercial mining operations are dominated by the countries listed in the table aside. The major constraint to economics for iron ore deposits is not necessarily the grade or size of the deposits, because it is not particularly hard to geologically prove enough tonnage of the rocks exist. The main constraint is the position of the iron ore relative to market, the cost of rail infrastructure to get it to market and the energy cost required to do so.

Mining iron ore is a high volume low margin business, as the value of iron is significantly lower than base metals. It is highly capital intensive, and requires significant investment in infrastructure such as rail in order to transport the ore from the mine to a freight ship. For these reasons, iron ore production is concentrated in the hands of a few major players.

World production averages two billion metric tons of raw ore annually. The world's largest producer of iron ore is the Brazilian mining corporation Vale, followed by Anglo-Australian companies Rio Tinto Group and then BHP Billiton. A further Australian supplier, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has helped bring Australia's production to second in the world.

The seaborne trade in iron ore, that is, iron ore to be shipped to other countries, was 849m tonnes in 2004. Australia and Brazil dominate the seaborne trade, with 72% of the market. BHP, Rio and Vale control 66% of this market between them.

In Australia iron ore is won from three main sources: pisolite "channel iron deposit" ore derived by mechanical erosion of primary banded-iron formations and accumulated in alluvial channels such as at Pannawonica, Western Australia; and the dominant metasomatically-altered banded iron formation related ores such as at Newman, the Chichester Range, the Hamersley Range and Koolyanobbing, Western Australia. Other types of ore are coming to the fore recently, such as oxidised ferruginous hardcaps, for instance laterite iron ore deposits near Lake Argyle in Western Australia.

The total recoverable reserves of iron ore in India are about 9,602 million tones of hematite and 3,408 million tones of magnetite[citation needed].Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are the principal Indian producers of iron ore. World consumption of iron ore grows 10% per annum on average with the main consumers being China, Japan, Korea, the United States and the European Union.

China is currently the largest consumer of iron ore, which translates to be the world's largest steel producing country. It is also the largest importer, buying 52% of the seaborne trade in iron ore in 2004. China is followed by Japan and Korea, which consume a significant amount of raw iron ore and metallurgical coal. In 2006, China produced 588 million tons of iron ore, with an annual growth of 38%.

Guangdong Shunde Seko Machinery & Technology Co.,Ltd.www.gdseko.com
Lucy Xie
sevvice@gdseko.com
Skype:Lucy Xie,SEKO Machinery
Suggested Reading:The raw materials of iron and steel