The Pansteel Research Institute Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as the Institute), is also known as the Ansteel Research Institute of Vanadium and Titanium (Iron and Steel). The Institute originated from Anshan Iron and Steel Research Institute, which was established in Anshan, Liaoning Province in 1964 with the approval of the State Economic Commission. In the same year, it was relocated to Xichang, an inland city in Sichuan and renamed the Southwest Iron and Steel Research Institute under the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry. In 1972, the Institute moved to Panzhihua and was renamed Panzhihua Iron and Steel Research Institute. In 1983, it was merged into Pansteel Group, forming a production and scientific research consortium. In 2000, as one of the 242 institutes designated by the state, it was transformed into Pansteel Panzhihua Iron and Steel Research Institute. In 2007, the Institute was integrated and registered as Pansteel Research Institute Co., Ltd. Following the merger of Ansteel and Pansteel, the Ansteel Research Institute of Vanadium and Titanium (Iron and Steel) was incorporated in 2013, operating under the principle of "two names, one team" with Pansteel Research Institute Co., Ltd. In 2021, the State Key Laboratory of Comprehensive Utilization of Vanadium and Titanium Resources, Ansteel Research Institute of Vanadium and Titanium (Iron and Steel), and Pansteel Research Institute Co., Ltd. launched an integrated operation, forming a technology-based enterprise with a market-oriented corporate structure.
The institute is dedicated to staying at the forefront of the world technological advancement, addressing critical economic challenges and aligning its activities with national key development needs. Focusing on the comprehensive development and utilization of Pan-Xi vanadium bearing titaniferous magnetite and the extension of its industrial chain, it endeavors to improve resource utilization efficiency, upgrade the industrial structure and expand the applications of vanadium and titanium. It conducts research and development on fundamental technologies, major cutting-edge common technologies, key bottleneck technologies and industrialization related to metallurgical separation of iron, vanadium, titanium, chromium from vanadium-bearing titaniferous magnetite, new processes of vanadium and titanium preparation, fine chemical products of vanadium and titanium, titanium and its special materials, new materials of vanadium-titanium bearing steels, vanadium bearing steels for railway , recovery of rare and precious metals, energy and environmental protection, etc. With three R&D bases in Panzhihua, Chengdu and Beijing, the Institute has reshaped the R&D units based on the mode of "one industry, one research establishment" and "one strategic product (process platform), one project team", forming an innovative framework of "10 institutes plus 5 centers" and 48 innovative project teams.
The institute has nearly 1,000 employees, 649 of whom are scientific and technical personnel, including 50 specially appointed academicians and experts, young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions to the country, national candidates for the New Century’s Hundred, thousand and 10 thousand Talents Project, experts who enjoy government subsidies from the State Council and provincial-level talents. A total of 100 individuals are holders of doctoral degree while 274 personnel have been awarded senior technical titles.
The institute is equipped with national science and technology innovation platforms including the State Key Laboratory of Comprehensive Utilization of Vanadium and Titanium Resources, the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for High-speed and Heavy-duty Rail Steel R&D and Manufacturing, and the National Enterprise Technology Center; it has access to a number of intellectual sharing platforms such as the Strategic Alliance for Industrial Technological Innovation in the Comprehensive Utilization of Vanadium and Titanium Resources, the Innovation Consortium for Vanadium and Titanium Industries, the Academician Research Program in Sichuan, and the Postdoctoral Research Program; It is also supported by information intelligence platforms comprising the digital research institute project, high-performance computing platform and numerical simulation laboratory; it is provided with the CNAS, CMA accredited analytical platforms and laboratories; furthermore it boasts an achievement transformation and industrial incubation platform supported by vanadium-titanium pilot lines.
The Institute’s total assets amount to CNY 1.108 billion, comprising more than 4000 sets of instruments and equipment. It is equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories for titanium&steel, heavy rail steel, mining and metallurgy, titanium chemical engineering, vanadium extraction, environmental engineering, titanium casting, additive manufacturing, material forming, material welding, material heat treatment, physical and chemical testing and numerical simulation. A facility is operational for the preparation of metal wires and tubular products. The Institute operates pilot platforms for the validation of a new process for the utilization of vanadium titaniferous magnetite at a capacity of 100,000 t/a, the production of titanium tetrachloride from blast furnace slag at a capacity of 10,000 t/a, the production of upgraded TiO2 feedstock at a capacity of 5,000 t/a, the trial production of a new titanium dioxide product at a capacity of 300 t/a and the production of titanium tetrachloride with fluidizing chlorination process. Additionally, collaborative laboratories have been established in conjunction with higher academic institutions, research organizations and industrial partners, including Harbin Institute of Technology, Tianjin University, Southwest Petroleum University, Southwest Jiaotong University, China Academy of Railway Sciences, Changhong Group, Midea Group, Wankong Group, Wuling Industrial Automobile Co.
Following 6 decades of development, the Institute has evolved into a preeminent R&D institution in China, with a particular focus on the vanadium and titanium industries. It serves as a predominant innovative entity in the development and utilization of vanadium and titanium resources, which are classified as national strategic minerals in the Pan-Xi region. The worldwide crux of smelting high TiO2 content V-bearing titaniferous magnetite in the conventional blast furnace was successfully addressed by an innovative approach that combined independent research with the formation of a key-problem-tackling dedicated task force mobilized by the state. This resulted in the transformation of an "idle ore" into an economic resource, thereby initiating the comprehensive development and utilization of vanadium and titanium resources; A package of solutions for equipment and technologies for vanadium extraction with an atomization process and BOF process have been developed, enabling China to transition from a vanadium importer to an exporter while supporting Pansteel’s transformation into the world's largest vanadium producer; Meanwhile, an unprecedented result was achieved to recover titanium resource from the V-bearing titaniferous magnetite, which changed the distribution and structure of global titanium resources, while enabling Pansteel to become the largest titanium feedstock supplier in China and the sole industry entity worldwide to achieve comprehensive recovery of iron, vanadium, titanium, and chromium resources from the V-bearing titaniferous magnetite. This has established Pansteel as a global leader in the comprehensive utilization of V-bearing titaniferous magnetite. A total of 455 national, provincial (ministerial, industry association) scientific and technological progress awards have been granted, comprising 26 national-level achievements and 429 provincial and ministerial-level achievements. To date, an excess of 2500 invention patents have been granted, including 168 international patents. The Institute has prepared or revised over 60 international, national, and industry standards acting as either a principal drafter or a participant in the formulation of such standards. Over the past 5 years, a total of 360 academic papers have been published by the core journals , 86 of which are SCI/EI-indexed publications.
The Institute is wholly committed to pursuing Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era as a guiding principle and shouldering the national mission of innovative development of strategic resources in the Pan-Xi region. In doing so, it is aligning itself with the basic guidelines of innovation-driven development and the new development concept with the objective of identifying a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development. With a particular focus on "technological innovation" and "technological start-ups", the Institute will take the initiative to implement the national strategic task of developing ‘bottleneck’ materials. The Institute’s sustainable efforts to form a third-generation technological system for the comprehensive utilization of vanadium and titanium resources in the Pan-Xi region will enable it to establish itself as a source of original technologies and an international first-class research institution with distinctive characteristics.