Asean Council Raises Safety Concerns Over Induction Furnace Steel

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (NNN) -- The ASEAN Iron and Steel Council (AISC) has urged ASEAN governments to reassess the use of induction furnace (IF) technology in producing construction steel, citing concerns over structural safety.

AISC said in a statement that its task force report has highlighted growing concerns that certain steelmaking methods may compromise structural safety if not properly regulated.

"Recent seismic events and fault-line studies indicate that ASEAN faces non-negligible earthquake risks, making structural safety increasingly critical, with steel quality playing a vital role in ensuring resilience during earthquakes and other disasters,” it said. 

According to the council, steel is mainly produced using three methods, namely blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF) and induction furnace (IF).

It said only the BF-BOF and EAF methods include a refining process to remove harmful impurities, while the IF method does not.

"The IF process does not include this refining stage, making it harder to remove contaminants from scrap metal. This can result in steel with higher impurity levels, which may weaken structural integrity and performance,” the statement said.

Alongside the call to reassess the use of IF-produced construction steel, the AISC also urged governments to restrict its use to non-critical applications, strengthen testing and standards, and implement a gradual phase-out by introducing stricter controls while transitioning to safer steelmaking technologies.

Although IF-produced steel may meet the basic chemical requirements under current national standards, AISC said further testing showed significantly higher levels of non-metallic inclusions, which can reduce toughness and fatigue resistance and may impair performance in critical structures.

“Existing standards were designed decades ago when IF was not widely used for mass production of construction steel. As a result, current testing may not detect these risks,” it said.

Many countries have restricted or are phasing out the use of IF-produced steel for structural applications due to safety concerns; others require clear product marking or impose stricter controls, reflecting increasing global caution towards IF-produced construction steel, the statement said.

-- NNN-BERNAMA