Ruukki's Energy-Efficient, High-Strength, Wear-Resistant Steel Comes to North America

The steel manufacturers based in North America have found a new competitor in Ruukki. The Finnish steel maker has formally started its operations in North America and the environmentalists and eco-friendly consumers in the USA and Canada have ample reasons to be happy about that.

Ruukki is known worldwide for its energy-efficient steel products, which Ruukki has so far sold in the U.S. through an agent. With the company setting up operations in Pittsburg and Toronto, the Ruukki products will now be directly available to the North American manufacturers involved in transportation, heavy lifting, mining and other demanding industrial applications.

Ruukki’s USP lies in its ability to develop special kind of steel using direct quenching technology. Because of its special manufacturing process, Ruukki’s  Optim and wear-resistant Raex steels come with superior mechanical properties such as superior surface hardness, core hardness and uniform toughness.

Optim steel helps manufacturers reduce energy costs of equipment, vehicles and other industrial products while gaining extra high-strength performance. Being high-strength and wear-resistant Ruukki’s steel is fit for manufacturing energy-efficient products with lighter structures. Optim is ideal for frame structures in commercial vehicles, mobile machines, equipment booms and other heavy lifting equipment.By supporting higher payloads, Ruukki brand steel ensures longer service life. And all these are expected to yield significant business benefits for its customers in North America.

Even the staunchest critics of pollution-making manufacturing factices will find little to complain about Ruukki, as sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR (News - Alert)) features prominently in its business policy. The advocates of green industries will find it really interesting that Ruukki’s technology allows it to use minimum possible amount of carbon raw materials to manufacture steel.

According to company website, the company takes great efforts to reduce the environmental loading of each steel product at each stage from production to recycling, while also ensuring a sustainable supply chain.

The company’s North American facilities will be used to drive sales and marketing, deliver technical customer services and technical support and to develop distribution network. Manufacturing and R&D will remain at its state-of-the-art steel works in Finland, officials said.

“Ruukki needs to be close to customers to deliver the high level of service and help them find the best steel solutions for their applications. North American customers can now benefit from high-strength Optim and wear-resistant Raex steel to improve the lifetime, load-bearing capacity and energy efficiency of their products. We are committed to building a strong position for Ruukki in North America and look forward to servicing customers who need the highly differentiated and proven steel we are known for,”senior VP at Ruukki Metals Thomas Hörnfeldt commented in a statement.