Guangdong Guangqing Metal Technology Co., Ltd. (GQMT), founded in 2010, is a large-scale stainless steel manufacturer jointly invested by Guangdong Guangxin Holding Group and Tsingshan Holding Group, two Fortune 500 companies. Located in the Lingang Industrial Park of the Yangjiang High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Guangdong Province, the company has a total investment of 5.5 billion yuan, an annual output value exceeding 30 billion yuan, and currently employs over 4,500 people.
GQMT has built a complete industrial chain for high-end stainless steel and nickel alloys, encompassing the entire process from mineral resources to ferronickel smelting to steelmaking to hot rolling and cold rolling, ensuring control of every step from raw materials to finished products. The company currently operates four 500 kt/a electric arc furnaces, generating a combined annual molten steel production capacity of 2 million tons. In addition to stainless steel, GQMT also boasts an upstream production capacity of 300,000 tons/year of ferronickel, a key raw material for high-quality stainless steel.
Stainless Steel and Nickel Alloy Production Capacity
Guangqing Technology possesses comprehensive melting, hot rolling, and cold rolling processes, capable of producing 200, 300, and 400 series stainless steel. Its EAF furnace utilizes an advanced electric arc furnace → AOD refining → continuous casting process, ensuring high steel purity and precise control. The company’s four 500 kt/a electric arc furnaces generate a crude steel production capacity of 2 million tons/year. Furthermore, its upstream supporting 300,000 t/a nickel iron production capacity provides a stable nickel resource for stainless steel production.
By 2024, Guangxin Group has emphasized the goal of building a 100 billion yuan nickel alloy industry cluster. As a key supporter of the group’s stainless steel and nickel alloy businesses, Guangqing Technology achieved operating revenue exceeding 40 billion yuan that year, becoming one of the largest high-end stainless steel and nickel alloy manufacturers in China.
Guangqing’s overseas subsidiary, Indonesia, contributed over 47 billion yuan in revenue. Its first phase of construction has already completed 600,000 tons of nickel iron, 1 million tons of steelmaking, and 3 million tons of hot-rolling production lines. The second phase, a 4 million-ton hot-rolling project, was completed and put into production within 17 months. The nickel-cobalt intermediate hydrometallurgical project, currently under construction, targets the upstream of the nickel-cobalt supply chain, entering the new energy battery raw materials market.
Product Lineup and Technology Highlights
- 200 Series Stainless Steel: Featuring low nickel content and nickel conservation, it is suitable for tableware, catering equipment, and some interior decoration. By optimizing the rolling process, Guangqing Technology has successfully achieved a thickness of 1.55 mm for 200 Series hot-rolled stainless steel, breaking design limits and contributing to the development of the high-end, ultra-thin stainless steel market.
- 300 Series Stainless Steel: Featuring a high nickel content and excellent corrosion resistance, it is widely used in chemical equipment, food processing machinery, and medical devices. Guangqing Technology focuses on improving the purity and surface quality of its 300 series products. Through sophisticated AOD refining and vacuum degassing processes, it ensures product quality reaches internationally advanced standards.
- 400 series stainless steel: primarily composed of ferritic and martensitic grades, is high-temperature resistant and magnetic, and is widely used in automotive exhaust, home appliances, and architectural decoration. Leveraging its comprehensive hot and cold rolling lines, Guangqing Technology provides customers with 400 series steel coils with smooth surfaces and stable dimensions.
The company is also actively developing nickel alloys and specialty steels, including duplex stainless steel, precipitation-hardening steel, and high-temperature nickel-based alloys, for applications in the petrochemical, high-end equipment manufacturing, and new energy industries.
Development of the Indonesian Base
To ensure nickel resource supply and expand overseas markets, Guangqing Technology has established a large industrial park in Indonesia. According to Guangxin Group, the Indonesian project currently has production lines for 600,000 tons of ferronickel, 1 million tons of steelmaking, and 3 million tons of hot rolling, and plans to complete the 4 million tons of hot rolling project by 2024. In addition, the construction of Indonesia’s nickel-cobalt intermediate wet process project has started, which will provide raw material support for the global new energy battery industry in the future.
