OREANDA-NEWS. December 13, 2007. The 13th International exhibition “Metal-Expo-2007” has finished in Moscow. The products presented by Zlatoust metallurgists were a great success.

The official opening time of “Metal/Expo” was 13:13 on the 13th November. However, the participants of the main exposition of metallurgy achievements weren’t intimidated by such an accumulation of “unlucky” numbers. The industry is on the rise.
“The recommenced industrialization of economy, construction boom and increase of investments contribute to the industry growth. 13 years ago the “Metal-Expo” exhibition saw only 10 identical black and white stands; this time we see over 700 companies from 32 countries of the world presented in three exhibition halls of the All-Russian Exhibition Centre.

Leaders of Russian metallurgy presented their products at the exhibition. No less impressive was the participation of 200 foreign companies. 60 conferences, seminars, round tables and presentations took place during the congress of the exhibition forum. The delegates discussed the key issues of metallurgy business in the framework of the Metal Week at the 10th International Conference “Russian Metal Market”.

The stand of Zlatoust Metallurgical Plant and of other metallurgical enterprises of the ESTAR Group was one of the most conspicuous. The visitors’ attention was obviously caught by the window showing knives produced in the thermal sizing workshop of the plant from a new type of steel.
The plant presented a brand new steel grade at the “Metal-Expo” exhibition. “ZSSS” (Zlatoust Special Shear Steel) is a sparingly alloyed steel grade that combines many advantages. This steel is durable although it is plastic and easy to process. ZSSS has a high corrosion resistance and, what’s important, a relatively low production cost.
The 12 blades produced from the new steel were to demonstrate all the steel’s capabilities in practice. Right from the first day of the exhibition the knife window was extremely popular. Experts have their own criteria of assessing cold arms: “a self-test” to make sure that the blade lies smoothly in the hand, that it’s obedient and that its components are made-to-measure.

An official presentation of the ZSSS grade also took place. The amazed audience witnessed how the knives cut the nails and then cut paper. Apparently, it made no difference for the blades, whether to cut nails or paper: they dealt easily with both materials. Even the more experienced representatives of the leading Russian “knife” magazines – “Prorez’” (“A Cut”) and “Bulatny Klinok” (“A Blade of Steel”) – were delighted.
“Today the manufacturers of cold arms adapt the industrial steel grades (valve and ball bearing steel) for their needs. ZSSS is meant for production of high quality blades. Besides, it is relatively inexpensive”, says A.V.Rybkin, managing director of ZMP. Consumers already express their interest in another “exclusive” ZMP product. As for the plant’s blades, they were sold out in just 20 minutes.

Another bright moment: the most successful high-tech innovations receive annual awards from the elite of metallurgy. Each year there are more and more applications, however it’s also more difficult to impress the expert commission. It’s difficult to be the first when the technical progress advances with the speed of light. But that’s what makes the competition of ideas so exciting, giving the Russian metallurgy a possibility to keep up with the pace of the world metallurgy.
Zlatoust Metallurgical Plant was awarded a silver medal of the International Industrial Exhibition “Meatl-Expo-2007” for the development of hollow ingots technology for the production of pipes from difficult-to-form steel grades.
One of the first to appreciate the uniqueness of this product was the Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant, where hollow ingots (as experimental products) were rolled into tubes. The feedback was, as expected, quite positive.

A hollow ingot is a blank for the tube industry that makes the first operation - piercing – completely unnecessary. As a result, it reduces working hours and metal loss that is especially topical for the use of expensive steel grades. Some chemical enterprises have already expressed their wish to place orders for hollow ingots.