OREANDA-NEWS. March 27, 2014. Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel Co. Ltd. (VAMA), ArcelorMittal’s automotive joint venture with Hunan Valin Steel Co., Ltd. in China has hosted its first VAMA Tech Days forum in Shanghai. The event demonstrated state-of-the-art technologies and future trends in automotive steel products to the public, through a technical forum and exhibition of lightweight steel solutions.

The event was attended by more than 300 participants representing more than 50 automakers and subcontractors. It was hosted by VAMA with the support of ArcelorMittal and Hunan Valin, with more than 65 technical and commercial experts joining the event from across the globe.

The “S-in motion” car body prototype was the major attraction, receiving wide acclaim from automakers at its China debut. The S-in motion catalogue of more than 60 solutions optimises a car’s body weight, while ensuring continued high safety standards and increased levels of energy efficiency - a breakthrough innovation in the global automotive industry. The catalogue includes body-in-white (BIW), door and chassis solutions based on cutting-edge laser welded blank and hot stamping technology.

Wang Jun, chairman of VAMA, said at the forum: “As China’s automotive industry continues to grow rapidly, the demand for automotive steel is also rising both in terms of volume and quality. VAMA is focused on the Chinese market and is dedicated to providing the world’s leading high-end automotive steels and solutions.”

Building a top-tier automotive steel manufacturer in China
Due to the impact of rapid growth in China’s automotive market, demand for automotive steel – particularly high-end products – is continuing to rise. However, domestic manufacturers can only supply high tensile strength steel up to 1000 MPa, and China’s original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are dependent upon imported VHSS for strength higher than 1000 MPa and Usibor® steel. In recent years, China has been importing between one and a half to two million tonnes of automotive steel a year: VAMA is positioning its product offering in state-of-the-art steel with the aim of replacing these imported products.

Sanjay Sharma, CEO of VAMA (pictured, at the forum), said, “As the product of a strong partnership between Valin Steel and ArcelorMittal, VAMA boasts strong technological expertise, management experience and brand strength. We are very confident in our ability to turn VAMA into a premier automotive steel manufacturer in China.”

Jurgen Cobbaut, CTO of VAMA, said: “Making automotive steel thinner and reducing vehicle weight through steel with higher tensile strengths are the mainstream trends. For instance, “S-in motion” optimises and lightens the weight of 43 auto parts in a typical C-class vehicle to achieve a total weight reduction of approximately 19% (74 kilos) compared to conventional technology. In addition, “S-in motion” can cut down carbon emissions by 14% in the entire lifecycle of a vehicle.”