Electrical Steel Q&A
Q: What is Electrical Steel
A: Electrical steel is specialty steel used in the cores of electromagnetic devices such as motors, generators, and transformers because it reduces power loss. [Via Wikipedia]
For more on electrical steel, please consider Electrical Steel: The heart of an Electric Motor.
Electrical steel is a soft magnetic material. In such materials an external magnetic field generates a magnetic flux density that is many times higher than would be the case in air. In simple terms, the magnetic field is strengthened by the soft magnetic materials. Flux density is key to the torque of an electric motor.
For conventional electric motors, such as those used in elevators or machine tools, the frequency is 50 hertz. By contrast, high-speed motors for electric and hybrid cars have frequencies of more than 400 hertz. So the goals for electrical steel developers are clear: Electric cars need soft magnetic materials with high flux density and minimal core losses at high frequencies.
Paper-Thin Steel Needed to Power Electric Cars Is in Short Supply
The Wall Street Journal reports The Paper-Thin Steel Needed to Power Electric Cars Is in Short Supply
Large U.S. steelmakers are ramping up production of a hard-to-make, paper-thin steel to capture a fast-growing market for a material critical to powering electric vehicles.
Such electrical steel, which accounts for about 1% of all the steel produced annually in the world, already is in short supply for electric vehicles, executives said. Companies expect demand to accelerate faster than production as EV volumes expand in the coming years.
“It’s in limited supply and with very long lead times. Sometimes 50 or 52 weeks,” said Hale Foote, owner of Scandic Springs Inc., a San Leandro, Calif., company that uses high-grade electrical steel to make parts for scientific measurement devices.
US Steel Announcement
#USSteel introduces InduX™ electrical steel, a critical and necessary component in #EVs that transforms electrical power into energy. https://t.co/4XJih1xEN7 pic.twitter.com/DMBKzuOq41
— U. S. Steel (@U_S_Steel) March 23, 2023
US Steel made that announcement on March 23, but it will not be enough.
Electric Steel Dilemma & Its Impact on Motor Vendors
In a July 2022 article, Automation reported Electric Steel Dilemma & Its Impact on Motor Vendors
Electric steel is used heavily in the manufacturing of electric motors. The material is key to producing the electromagnetic field used to turn the rotor. Without the electromagnetic properties associated with this iron alloy, the performance of electric motors would be substantially compromised.
As electric vehicle production continues to grow, so does the associated demand for the electric steel used in the motors to power them. Resultingly, the bargaining power between commercial/industrial electric motor vendors and their steel suppliers is becoming increasingly undermined. As this trend progresses, it will impact vendors’ ability to secure the electric steel necessary for production, resulting in longer lead times, and higher prices for customers.
Electrical Steel Shortages and Solutions
Also from 2022 please consider the Horizon Technology article Electrical Steel Shortages and Solutions.
“Producers have been notified that they will be on allocation, essentially rationing, for electrical steel for all of (2022), with most expecting to get only 80% to 90% of purchase requirements. The impact of the electrical steel shortage could potentially be as damaging to the global economy in 2022 and 2023 as the semiconductor shortage (was in 2021).”
That’s also from 2022. Here is another, more current, article regarding transformers.
Massive Power Transformer Shortage
On March 11, 2023, NewScientist reported a Massive Power Transformer Shortage is Wreaking Havoc in the US.
A nationwide shortage of power grid transformers is causing delays across the US for everything from infrastructure for electric vehicles to new homes
Across the US, new houses sit unfinished – construction can’t be completed until they are connected to the electricity grid. Utility companies worry about how quickly they can restore power after damage caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters. And nationwide efforts to modernize ageing electrical grids face delays of months or even years.
All this is happening because of a national shortage of electrical distribution transformers. These devices convert the high-voltage electricity from power lines into lower voltages suitable for homes and businesses, … [Rest is Paywalled]
Electrical Steel Sources and Pricing
Returning to the Wall Street Journal …
More than 80% of the electrical steel produced comes from China, Japan and South Korea, all countries that are subject to U.S. tariffs or quotas on steel imports, industry analysts said.
The slow, exacting process required to melt, cast and roll electrical steel, which can be less than a quarter of a millimeter thick for the highest grade, holds down production volumes and dissuades many steel companies from making it, executives said.
High-grade electrical steel used in electric-car motors sells for $2,400 to $2,800 a ton, compared with about $1,100 for commodity-type hot-rolled sheet steel, according to analysts.
“We’re going to go through shortages,” said Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs. “Shortages generate higher prices.”
In North America, which already relies on imports of electrical steel, demand for high-grade electrical steel is expected to reach nearly 780,000 tons by the end of the decade.
Steel-industry executives said that creating more domestic capacity to make electrical steel for vehicles will likely take years, as steel companies acquire equipment and become proficient at the exacting production process.
No Wild Bets
Here’s an interesting comment by Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs:
“I’m not going to make a wild bet on more until I have certainty about the pace of electrification.”
Damn the Inflation, Full Speed Ahead
Meanwhile, Biden’s energy policy can easily be summed up in meme phrases.
- Damn the Inflation, Full Speed Ahead
- What, Me Worry?
- The world will end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.
On March 22, 2022, I commented Biden Doing Everything Possible to Drive Up the Price of Oil, Some of It’s Illegal
On November 30, 2022, I commented The EU is Very Worried About Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
On December 3, 2022, I commented Damn That Wind, It’s Not Listening to Biden or AOC
On February 7, 2023, I commented Biden Gives a Well-Delivered SOTU Speech Begging for More Inflation and Tax Hikes
On January 16, 2023, I commented “America First”, Biden and Trump Both Guilty of Sponsoring Inflation
President Biden under guise of “Build Back Better”, is out-Trumping Trump on “America First”.
The Inflation Reduction Act has nothing at all to do with reducing inflation. Rather it’s a subsidy scheme illegal under WTO rules.
Don’t Worry, It Will Only Cost $131 Trillion to Address Climate Change
But all of the above is OK because It Will Only Cost $131 Trillion to Address Climate Change
This post originated at MishTalk.Com
Please Subscribe!
Like these reports? I hope so, and if you do, please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.
Subscribers get an email alert of each post as they happen. Read the ones you like and you can unsubscribe at any time.
If you have subscribed and do not get email alerts, please check your spam folder.
Mish
