Hyundai Steel Obtains Korea Gas Corporation Certification for LNG Storage Tank Cryogenic Steel

World's Largest 4.5m Width 9% Nickel Steel Obtains Quality Certification from Korea Gas Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Hyundai Steel's 9% nickel steel, an ultra-low temperature steel for LNG storage tanks, has passed the quality certification test conducted by Korea Gas Corporation. With this certification, the company can expand its business from supplying materials for shipbuilding LNG storage tanks to the onshore LNG plant market.

By obtaining quality certification for 9% nickel steel products with thicknesses ranging from 6 to 45mm and a maximum width of 4.5m, Hyundai Steel has secured competitiveness in the domestic and international onshore LNG plant markets. Notably, the certified product width of 4.5m is among the widest in the world.

9% nickel steel is a high-performance thick plate product used for the safety of LNG fuel storage facilities such as shipbuilding and onshore plant storage tanks. It exhibits excellent impact resistance even in cryogenic environments (minus 196 degrees Celsius) and has superior welding performance. Recently, there has been a trend toward increasing the size of 9% nickel steel in terms of thickness and width to enable more efficient design and construction, highlighting the growing importance of wide-width materials.

Through this 9% nickel steel quality certification, Hyundai Steel has qualified as a material supplier for Korea Gas Corporation's Dangjin LNG production base construction project, enabling the supply of steel materials necessary for manufacturing LNG storage tanks. Additionally, the company has secured the qualification to supply steel for various domestic and international projects designed by Korea Gas Corporation in the future.

In September, Hyundai Steel was recognized for quality by supplying 9% nickel steel for large fuel tanks of LNG-powered ultra-large container ships being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, and it also supplies materials for LNG bunkering ship storage tanks and small fuel tanks.

This certification is also significant in that Hyundai Steel succeeded in fully domesticating welding materials in cooperation with domestic welding material manufacturer Hyundai Comprehensive Metals. Welding materials had been dependent on imports due to issues with high toughness and efficiency, but Hyundai Steel applied fully domestic welding materials in the Korea Gas Corporation quality certification test and passed. The domestication of welding materials is expected to reduce costs by more than 30% compared to imported materials, which can be leveraged as an advantage in future LNG project participation.

A Hyundai Steel official stated, "Obtaining Korea Gas Corporation's quality certification is highly meaningful as it marks Hyundai Steel's full-scale entry into the ultra-low temperature material market, including LNG storage tanks," and added, "It is expected to be a great help to domestic and international construction companies facing difficulties in securing 9% nickel steel materials."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.