The management of NPP RUSMET received an invitation from the Swedish steel company SSAB to take part in the world-wide event in the steel industry competition "Swedish Steel Prize - 2013", held in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm, in late November 2013. The event is aimed to popularize the use of high-strength steels.

SSAB, has been a trendsetter for special steels for many years, these brand names include Hardox, Domex, Docol, Weldox, Toolox, Armox.

Many technologies at the SSAB factories are unique:

  • metal smelting with minimal use of alloying elements,
  • strict procedure for preparing ore for casting slabs without the use of scrap metal (scrub),
  • use of unique Australian coal and low sulphur coke,
  • innovation hardening lines for both thin and thick metal,
  • continuous quality control technologies in steel testing laboratories.

All of the above advantages make it possible to obtain a stable high-quality Swedish steel with unique characteristics with unrivalled parameters.

Swedish high-strength steel is ahead of the time, this is the material of tomorrow, the steel of light and strong future.

The dense and eventful program of business events with visits to SSAB steel mills, Swedish steel workshops, testing laboratories ended with a grandiose Gala show with the award of the Swedish Steel Prize 2013. The winner was the American company Mack Trucks Inc., a division of Volvo Group. The prize was awarded to the company for an innovative suspension system for heavy vehicles, which incorporates all the advantages of the properties of high-strength steel. In 2013, Condeco Technologies (Switzerland), Mack Trucks (USA), Pesa Bydgoszcz (Poland) and Tuff Trailers (Australia) became the nominees for the Swedish Steel Prize 2013.

The Swiss manufacturing company Condeco has introduced an advanced method of manufacturing steel cookware. New dishes, which can improve the quality of cooking, increase the preservation of vitamins and nutrients, by reducing the cooking time. Toolox steels are applied in the Condeco cookware. By laser welding, the bottom of the dishes is made from steel sheets, thus making it possible to use the unsurpassed advantage of Swedish steel - the stability of the shape of Toolox steel.

Volvo Group’s division, Mack Trucks Inc., has developed an innovative suspension where conventional leaf springs are replaced by two Y-shaped suspension components and Swedish high-strength steel is wisely applied. The sturdy yet lightweight design has reduced suspension weight and significantly improved tire grip and controlled braking. An important advantage of the new suspension is the benefit of fuel economy by reducing the weight of the suspension.

Using Swedish high-strength steel, Pesa Bydgoszcz (Poland) developed a railway car body, which is a unique diesel passenger train in the European market with high passenger safety requirements in case of an accident. The constructive solution made by the company's engineers to use high-strength Swedish steel led to a significant increase in the energy absorbed in the collision.

A trailer manufactured by Tuff Trailers is used to transport heavy equipment. The use of high-strength steel in the new trailer design, in symbiosis with hollow frame profiles, made it possible to create a flexible, much safer, very lightweight and efficient transport. Savings in welding cycles led to lower production costs and a significant reduction in fuel consumption, due to improved aerodynamic qualities of the trailer retractable hoist.

The winner received a statuette created by Jörg Jeschke and a money prize of SEK 100,000.

SSAB’s President Martin Lindqvist expressed a desire to see Russian companies as the nominees and winners of the Swedish Steel Prize next year.