NSSMC’s 7% Ni Steel for LNG Storage Tank will be Used to Build the LNG Storage Tank for Imported Shale Gas from Canada

Jun. 19, 2014

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation

NSSMC’s 7% Ni Steel for LNG Storage Tank will be Used
to Build the LNG Storage Tank for Imported Shale Gas from Canada


The 7% nickel steel for LNG storage tank, developed by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (President and CEO: Kosei Shindo), has been adopted for an an LNG storage tank to be constructed in a new LNG receiving terminal* at Soma Port in Fukushima Prefecture. The terminal is being constructed by Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex). NSSMC has received an order to supply about 3,500 tons of the 7% nickel steel from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (IHI) which is a prime contractor for constructing the tank. The Soma LNG terminal is planned to be completed by fiscal 2017 and will be the one for imported liquefied shale gas produced in British Columbia, Canada.

LNG is stored at cryogenic temperatures (under -162 degrees). Thus, steel for storage tanks needs to have high fracture resistance and strength under low-temperature conditions. For this reason, the 9% Ni steel (steel containing 9% nickel) that is outstanding in these required characteristics has been used for such situations for over half a century. Recently, NSSMC has applied the thermo-mechanical control process (TMCP) to cryogenic steels, for the first time. This application of TMCP permitted the world’s first development of 7% Ni steel with the benefits of refining the microstructure to around one-third, slashing the amount of nickel by about 20%, and ensuring high safety and strength equal to those properties of 9% Ni steel. That is, the improvement combines resource saving and high performance. NSSMC’s 7% Ni steel will be the first new steel sheet standard for LNG storage tanks in about a half century.

The order for Soma LNG storage tank will be the third one, following an order received for the Senboku-I No. 5 tank (Osaka Gas) in 2012 and an order received for the Chita Midorihama tank (Toho Gas) in 2013.
We are also receiving many inquiries from overseas. The product has already become a global applicable standard for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and is under assessment for being standardized by the American Petroleum Institute (API), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and others.

Natural gas, with less CO2 emission and being a relatively clean source of energy, is now attracting greater attention as a result of the shale-gas revolution. NSSMC has already contributed to shale-gas development by supplying seamless pipes for drilling and steel tubes for refineries. In the future our 7% Ni steel is expected to be used for oceanic floating LNG storage tanks in addition to above-ground tanks, and will facilitate development of shale gas resources.

NSSMC commands about a 40% global share of cryogenic steel for LNG storage tanks. We aim at increasing sales of the 7% Ni steel so as to capture business from the growing energy demand all over the world. At the same time, we are committed to help preserve nickel resources, which are an expensive metal, and reduce environmental burden. 

【Image of an LNG storage tank in JAPEX Soma LNG Terminal, Fukushima Prefecture】

Typical PC LNG storage tank


 1)Type:   
 Above-ground PC LNG storage tank
 2)Capacity: 230,000㎥
 3)Diameter: 87m
 4)Use of 7% nickel: Approximately 3,500 tons
 5)Construction:
 Began in 2014
 6)Operation: Plan to start within 2017
 7)Construction companies: Joint venture of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co.,
 Ltd. (IHI) and Shimizu Corporation



* Soma LNG Receiving Terminal
The plan to construct Soma LNG receiving terminal was approved by the Reconstruction Agency as a reconstruction promotion plan under the Act on a post-disaster reconstruction of the Great East Japan Earthquake on August 2, 2013.



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