UK Steel, the trade body for the UK steel industry, has issued a further safety warning about the use of Chinese steel.

UK Steel director Ian Rodgers said: “For the past few months, it has become increasingly clear that some imported steel plate and sections from China being supplied into the UK market are not fully compliant with the requirements of the relevant standard.”

The EU specification for structural steel explicitly states that it applies only to “non-alloy steels”. To qualify as “non-alloy”, a steel must comply with strict limits on the quantity of other metallic elements it contains.

This “non-alloy” classification ensures that the steel is readily weldable without the need to apply any special welding parameters.

However instances have been reported of Chinese steel containing elevated levels of elements such as boron and chromium. Chinese producers add these elements in order to qualify the steel as“alloy” because alloy steel exports benefit from a tax rebate.

However alloy steel plates and sections do not comply with the European standard for structural steel. More importantly, these alloy additions can significantly affect the steel when it is being welded; additions at these levels can cause the steel to crack — a problem that may not show up until 48hr later.

A similar problem can arise with copper-alloyed steel.