China’s Jinxi Iron and Steel plans to bring 5 million metric tons/year of additional slab capacity online at the end of 2026, technology provider Primetals Technologies said in a statement dated Nov. 18.

Primetals said it received an order from the steelmaker’s parent, Hebei Jinxi Iron and Steel Group, for two continuous slab casters of 2.5 million mt/year each. Primetals and Jinxi Steel signed the contract for the casters on the same day.

The casters will be installed at Jinxi Steel’s plant near Tangshan, Hebei province, according to Primetals, capable of manufacturing slabs 200 millimeters to 230 mm thick and 800 mm to 1,800 mm wide.

Also, the slabs will be available in a wide range of steel grades, including silicon, peritectic, and American Petroleum Institute special steel grades.

Primetals said that Jinxi Steel is making the investment to support its strategic goals of developing facilities focused on producing high-quality electrical steels, particularly high-grade non-oriented electrical steels (NOES) for new energy vehicle applications.

China’s EV sales reached 12.87 million units in 2024, up 35.5% from a year earlier, while exports rose 6.7% year over year to reach 1.28 million units, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, showed.

China remains the world’s EV manufacturing hub, as it accounted for 12.4 million out of 17.3 million EVs produced worldwide in 2024, or 71.7%, data from the International Energy Agency showed.