The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) yesterday launched a steel industrial development platform in collaboration with China Steel Corp (中鋼) as part of its effort to help transform the nation’s steelmaking industry.
The platform will focus first on helping the industry develop advanced materials, ITRI executive vice president Alex Y.M. Peng (彭裕民) said in a statement.
China Steel is striving to develop sputtering target materials used in the production of high-end semiconductors, as it looks to sharpen its competitive edge, while helping the nation’s semiconductor industry lower its production costs, president Wang Shyi-chin (王錫欽) said.
Photo: Lin Chin-hua, Taipei Times
Taiwan is the world’s largest consumer of target materials, accounting for 22 percent of global demand, a report by international trade group SEMI said.
It is heavily reliant on imports of such materials for use in the semiconductors and optoelectronics sectors, the report said.
ITRI aims to help China Steel improve its management of water resources, which is vital to steel production, Peng said, adding that the firm would boost its use of recycled water from 23 percent to 59 percent of total water consumption by 2024.
ITRI would also help China Steel in the deployment of information and communications technologies while the company looks to improve its work environment through occupational safety and health measures, Peng added.
China Steel plans to introduce ITRI’s iRoadsage system solution to its pallet trucks, which detects all moving objects on the road and issues alerts to the driver, in a bid to reduce traffic accidents, it said.
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