Liugang (Shandong) Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Liugang Shandong Supply Chain") recently signed a long-term supply agreement with Companhia Metalúrgica Nacional (CMN), a well-known Brazilian industrial group. According to the agreement, Liugang Shandong Supply Chain will supply approximately 9,000 tons of hot-rolled coils and American standard steel sections to the customer over the next eight months, with a total contract value exceeding US$3 million.

To further enhance customer experience and reduce the risks of rust and damage to steel during sea transport, Liugang (Shandong) Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Liugang Shandong Supply Chain") recently announced a comprehensive upgrade to its export packaging standards and logistics transportation service system. The new solution has already been applied to multiple orders shipped to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, with positive customer feedback.

Structural steel: Includes H-beams, I-beams, channel steel, angle steel, T-beams, and sheet piles. Primarily used in building structures, factory frames, bridges, foundation pit support, and shelving uprights.

Plate steel: Includes hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils, medium and heavy plates, galvanized sheets, and color-coated sheets. Primarily used in machinery manufacturing, pressure vessels, shipbuilding, roofing and wall cladding, appliance housings, and automotive parts.

Pipe steel: Includes seamless steel pipes, straight seam welded pipes, spiral welded pipes, and galvanized pipes. Primarily used in fluid transportation, petrochemicals, natural gas pipelines, and steel structure support.

Bar and wire rod: Includes round steel, rebar, and wire rod. Primarily used in concrete reinforcement, machining, standard parts manufacturing, and metal products.

Common Chinese National Standard (GB) steel grades: Q195, Q235B, Q355B, Q420B, No. 20 steel, No. 45 steel, HRB400E.

Common American Standard (ASTM) steel grades: A36, A572 Gr50, A572 Gr60, A992, A53 Gr.B, A106 Gr.B.

Common Japanese Standard (JIS) steel grades: SS400, SM490A, SM490B, STK400, STK500, S45C.

Common European Standard (EN) steel grades: S235JR, S275JR, S355JR, S355J2, S460M.

Approximate material comparison (for reference only, not direct substitution): Chinese National Standard Q235B is approximately equivalent to Japanese Standard SS400, American Standard A36, and European Standard S235JR. The Chinese national standard Q355B is roughly equivalent to the Japanese standard SM490A, the American standard A572 Gr50, and the European standard S355JR. The Chinese national standard 20# steel is roughly equivalent to the American standard A106 Gr.B and the Japanese standard S20C.

Hot-rolled coils are steel strips made from slabs through a heating furnace, roughing mill, and finishing mill. Liuzhou Steel's hot-rolled coils are characterized by high dimensional accuracy, good shape, and uniform performance.

Specification: Thickness multiplied by width, in millimeters. For example, 3.0 multiplied by 1250 indicates a thickness of 3.0 mm and a width of 1250 mm. Each coil typically weighs between 15 and 30 tons, with an inner diameter generally of 610 mm or 762 mm.

Common materials and applications: Q195 is used for cold-rolled base materials and hardware products; Q235B is used for general structural components, welded pipes, and shelving; Q355B is used for engineering machinery, bridge structures, and vehicle manufacturing.

Quality inspection points: The surface must be free of cracks, scars, folds, or obvious oxide scale indentation; thickness tolerance refers to GB/T 709 or ASTM A568 standards, with a typical accuracy of ±0.1 to ±0.3 mm; width tolerance is gen

Many customers easily confuse H-beams with I-beams. Simply put, the inner and outer surfaces of the flanges of an H-beam are parallel, and the connection between the web and the flange is at a right angle, giving it a cross-sectional shape resembling the letter "H". I-beams, on the other hand, have a 1:10 slope on the inner side of the flanges, making their cross-sectional shape more like an "I", and their flange width is relatively narrower.

The advantages of H-beams are their wider flanges, higher section modulus, stronger bending resistance, and better load-bearing capacity for the same weight, making them more suitable for high-rise buildings, large-span factories, and heavy equipment foundations. I-beams are suitable for small and medium-sized structures, supports, and ordinary steel beams.

In terms of designation, American standard H-beams commonly use the "W" series, such as W8 x 10, indicating a height of 8 inches and a weight of 10 pounds per foot. Chinese standard H-beams a

Medium-thick plates refer to steel plates with a thickness greater than or equal to 4.5 mm, commonly ranging from 5 mm to 150 mm. Standard lengths are typically 6 meters, 9 meters, and 12 meters, but can be cut to order. They are mainly used in shipbuilding, bridges, pressure vessels, and heavy machinery.

Hot-rolled coils can be slit into standard-length steel plates using a slitting machine, a process called "flat slitting." Compared to native standard-length plates, flat slitting plates may retain some coil curvature at the edges and have slightly higher internal stress, but are cheaper and suitable for non-load-bearing or general structural components. If customers require precision machining or load-bearing structures, native standard-length medium-thick plates are recommended.

Galvanized steel sheets have a zinc coating applied to the surface of hot-rolled or cold-rolled steel sheets for rust prevention. Depending on the zinc coating amount, they are divided into ordinary galvan

For export orders, Liuzhou Steel Shandong Supply Chain offers tiered packaging solutions:
**Standard Sea Freight Packaging:** Bundled with steel straps and corner protectors, externally wrapped with rainproof film (PE film). Suitable for orders with a voyage of 30 days or less and normal weather conditions at the destination port.

**Reinforced Sea Freight Packaging:** In addition to standard packaging, VCI vapor phase rust inhibitor paper is added, all exposed cut surfaces are sprayed with rust-preventive oil, and fully sealed waterproof bags or sheet metal corner protectors are used. Suitable for voyages exceeding 45 days, transiting through high-salt-spray areas (such as the equatorial route), or to humid and rainy regions at the destination port (such as Southeast Asia and Africa).

Bundling Requirements: Each bundle of structural steel should not exceed 3 tons, and each bundle of pipe should not exceed 2.5 tons, facilitating loading and unloading with forklifts or lifting equipmen