Use of Chinese Steel for Heavy Industrial Projects

There are two primary factors that influence the selections of a structural fabricator, cost and schedule. When compared to North American fabricators their Chinese counter parts have significantly lower costs for shop labor. This allows the Chinese to price fabricated steel at 30 to 40 percent less. Heavy industrial projects typically purchase steel directly from the mills rather than from warehouses or service centers. For the past couple of years North American steel mills have been rolling structural shapes at a slower pace than they have previously. In some cases mill orders must be made six months prior to fabrication. This is not the case in China. Our company started focusing on the prospect of using Chinese fabricators in the 90's for a power plant project in Australia. Since then we have investigated means and methods to make the utilization of Chinese Steel possible. To date several industrial projects, including power plants, mining facilities and liquefied natural gas refineries, have been completed using various Chinese fabricators. These projects have been economic success but not without many new challenges and lessons learned. With the cost of structural steel and the lead times for procuring domestic steel increasing, Chinese fabricators have been making inroads into the North American market. The use of off-shore fabricators and locally rolled Chinese steel presents a new set of challenges for the structural engineer. Materials, mills, fabricators, inspection, design, detailing, and transportation must all be considered in order to successfully incorporate Chinese fabrication into a project.