PRO‑TEC Coating Company was established as a joint venture in 1990 by two global leaders in steel technology and production – United States Steel Corporation and Kobe Steel, Ltd., of Japan.
The plant is located on a 1,200-acre site near Leipsic, Ohio, an area specifically selected for its proximity to automotive customers and steelmaking facilities – all linked by efficient access to truck and rail transportation.
The parent companies designed the original production facility featuring a 600,000-ton-per-year capacity, state-of-the-art, hot-dip continuous galvanizing/galvannealing line (now called CGL1). The line debuted as one of the largest, most advanced in the world when it began operation in 1993.
Increased demand for high-quality galvanized steel spurred a second galvanizing line (CGL2) that began operating in 1998. The two virtually identical lines brought the plant’s total production capability to over 1.1 million tons annually.
Anticipating the demands of the 2025 CAFE standards, U. S. Steel and Kobe Steel recognized automakers will need materials that reduce vehicle mass while improving safety. The companies invested in PRO-TEC’s Continuous Annealing Line (CAL) launched in 2013.
The CAL creates some of the most advanced cold-rolled, high-strength steel in the world, manipulating steel’s physical properties to enhance strength and formability.
To meet the demands for GEN3 steel while also providing the ability to make all other hot-dip products, PRO-TEC’s CGL3 uses the world’s most advanced heat-treating design. CGL3 produces GEN3, GEN1+ and current GEN1 AHSS, HSS hot-dip (HD) coated materials. This broadens the material offerings to both HD coatings and CAL or CAL+EG and allows hot-dip coated higher formability Si-added steels.
PRO-TEC’s commitment to customer service and consistent quality earned them the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2007 – the nation’s highest Presidential honor for performance excellence.