The Swedish Steel Prize is open to anyone who has developed a method or product that utilises the potential of SSAB''s branded offering, including steels optimised for high-strength, wear-resistance, tooling, protection and combinations of these options.

"This may relate, for example, to new technical design features, lighter products, simplified production, longer life, improved performance or beneficial environmental effects," SSAB explained, adding that the materials used must be within the range of materials made by SSAB, but need not necessarily be produced by SSAB.

Last year''s event attracted entries from 28 countries. One of the event''s past winners includes Belaz, a Belarusian company, who built the world''s largest dump truck with the help of high-strength steel. In 2014 Timo Penttimies of Finland was nominated for designing a new, innovative and cost-effective roller feeder for forest harvesters, SSAB said.

Eva Petursson, chairman of the Swedish Steel Prize jury and head of SSAB''s strategic R&D, commented: "There are, and will be, many new and even experimental ways of utilising our premium steels. My hope is to see as many of those products or methods as possible among the applications. We are looking for innovative steel solutions that really push the limits of steel – alone or in a combination with another material or even with a digital twist."

The winner of the prize will be announced at the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre on 11 May 2017. The prize will be a statuette sculpted by Jörg Jeschke and a cash prize of SEK100,000 that SSAB encourages to be donated to a charity of the winner''s choice.

-The 18th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Metal &Metallurgy Exhibition