My country's hot-dip galvanizing production has lagged behind for a long time. From the 1950s to the 1960s, 13 single-sheet flux-based hot-dip galvanizing units were built, with a capacity of 100,000 tons per year. However, due to low output, high costs, poor quality, environmental pollution, and poor economic benefits, these units were eventually shut down or converted to other production lines. It wasn't until the late 1970s that my country began building large-scale wide-strip hot-dip galvanizing units.
Hot-dip galvanized strip steel has always been a scarce commodity in the Chinese market. Since the mid-1990s, China has imported approximately 800,000 to 1 million tons annually. With the development of the domestic economy, especially the automotive, home appliance, and construction industries, the demand for galvanized strip steel has increased significantly. In the past two decades, my country has built a number of production lines with an annual output of over 100,000 tons. However, these hot-dip galvanizing units, in terms of process flow, equipment composition, and product variety, are still based on low-level, traditional technology and cannot meet the needs of my country's economic development in terms of variety, quality, and quantity. New hot-dip galvanizing lines are still needed to meet market demand.
Since the 1990s, my country's galvanized steel sheet production has made significant progress, with existing and under-construction galvanized sheet processing capacity reaching nearly 3 million tons. The market share of domestically produced galvanized sheets has increased rapidly, from approximately 27% in 1996 to around 59% in 1998. The five major domestic manufacturers-Baosteel, Wuhan Iron and Steel, Panzhihua Iron and Steel, Handan Iron and Steel, and Benxi Iron and Steel-have a combined production capacity exceeding 1.3 million tons.
The main gap between my country's existing hot-dip galvanizing units and those abroad lies in the fact that most units lack pre-cleaning equipment, making it difficult to guarantee the quality of the galvanized surface; existing finishing mills are relatively simple two-roll mills (Panzhihua uses four-roll mills), which cannot effectively improve the mechanical properties of the strip, especially its deep-drawing performance; and existing product varieties are limited to single-variety galvanized sheets, with only a small amount of alloyed sheets, far from meeting market demand.
The main users of hot-dip galvanized steel sheets produced by Chinese manufacturers are the building materials, light industry, agriculture, and transportation sectors. Due to limitations in existing hot-dip galvanizing equipment, technology, and the performance of the raw steel sheets, the actual production of galvanized steel sheets suitable for the automotive industry is very limited.
Characteristics of galvanized steel sheets: Galvanizing effectively prevents steel corrosion and extends its service life. Galvanized thin steel sheets (thickness 0.4–1.2 mm) are also known as galvanized iron sheets, commonly called white iron sheets. Galvanized steel sheets are widely used in construction, vehicles, home appliances, daily necessities, and other industries.
