Driven by global "dual carbon" goals and the transformation and upgrading of downstream industries, the coated steel industry is accelerating its development towards green and high-end directions. From the industrialization of chromium-free color-coated steel sheets for home appliances to the application of high-weather-resistant products in key national projects, from the explosive growth of zinc-aluminum-magnesium products in the photovoltaic field to the technological breakthrough of ultra-thick zinc-coated structural galvanized sheets, the application scenarios of coated steel are continuously expanding.
Green Development: Chromium-Free Color-Coated Steel Sheets Achieve Industrialization Breakthrough
In June of this year, Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group announced a major breakthrough—the industrialization of chromium-free color-coated steel sheets for home appliances has been successfully achieved, with more than 20 color options available, fully covering the mainstream color schemes used in home appliances.
As the home appliance industry accelerates its transformation towards green and high-end development, chromium-free environmentally friendly color-coated steel sheets are gradually replacing traditional chromium-containing sheets. However, home appliances have stringent requirements for sheet metal gloss, flexibility, and acid and alkali resistance, presenting multiple technical barriers to the development of chromium-free color-coated steel sheets. Pangang (Pangang Group) specifically developed chromium-free pretreatment liquid and chromium-free primer adapted to existing units, establishing a complete set of green production processes, ultimately producing chromium-free color-coated steel sheets with excellent appearance and outstanding corrosion resistance.
Currently, this product has achieved full industrial-scale production, with a cumulative supply of nearly 60,000 tons, widely used in core components such as washing machine panels, side panels, and refrigerator side panels for well-known domestic brands. Pangang stated that its next step will be to continue expanding the product's application scenarios and promote the application of environmentally friendly color-coated steel sheets in more home appliance categories such as air conditioners.
Pangang's success is not an isolated case. Shanxi Jianlong, relying on its self-developed complete industrial chain of "hot rolling—cold rolling—galvanizing—color coating," and employing industry-leading double-coating and double-baking automated processes, has successively launched a series of high-end functional color-coated products, including high weather resistance, silicon modification, fluorocarbon, self-cleaning, livestock-grade, textured, and structural grade products. HBIS Group released a high-end green metal full-scenario solution, proposing a green and healthy home decoration concept of "replacing wood, stone, and plastic with steel," covering all dimensions of scenarios including home decoration, office, medical, finance, and transportation.
High-end: High-weather-resistant products serve major national projects. In July of this year, Shandong Lantian's high-weather-resistant color-coated steel sheets were successfully supplied to key projects of China National Building Materials Group. The delivered high-weather-resistant color-coated steel sheets are suitable for various high-end, high-requirement outdoor engineering projects and are widely used in large industrial plants, municipal public buildings, coastal industrial parks, and high-end civil buildings.
In the field of outdoor building materials, complex conditions such as wind and sun exposure, drastic temperature changes, salt spray corrosion, and acid rain erosion have always been the biggest test of the service life and appearance of building materials. High-weather-resistant color-coated steel sheets, relying on mature process formulas and stringent production standards, endow the sheets with ultimate resistance to ultraviolet rays, anti-aging, and gloss and color retention, easily coping with various extreme climates such as high-temperature exposure in summer, severe cold in winter, and coastal salt spray. Long-term outdoor use ensures the steel does not fade, powder, crack, or rust, effectively solving the industry problem of easy aging and corrosion of outdoor steel sheets.
Similarly, in the high-end engineering field, Jinsteel's high-end color-coated steel sheets are used in the first phase of the Yicheng Xiaohegang Coal Reserve Base project in Xiangyang, Hubei, while Jingye's high-end color-coated steel sheets support the Xinjiang coal reserve construction project. These projects use high-zinc-coated, high-weather-resistant color-coated steel sheets, greatly enhancing their weather resistance and corrosion resistance.
In the industrial construction field, Shanxi Jianlong has successfully developed 400g/㎡ ultra-thick zinc-coated structural-grade galvanized steel strip, which has been applied to key industrial plant projects, becoming a dedicated upgraded material for industrial plant steel structures. Xinghan Coating has gone a step further, achieving stable mass production of 475g/㎡ ultra-thick zinc-coated structural-grade galvanized steel sheets, achieving a key breakthrough in the field of high-end structural galvanized steel sheets.
New Energy Driven: Explosive Growth of Zinc-Aluminum-Magnesium Products
The new energy sector is becoming the most important incremental market for coated steel. The application of color-coated steel coils in photovoltaic brackets, energy storage equipment shells, and new energy vehicle supporting facilities continues to deepen. Jinsteel's zinc-aluminum-magnesium products, boasting three core advantages—over 9000 hours of salt spray resistance, self-healing cut edges, and low carbon and energy consumption—precisely meet the market demands of photovoltaic, construction, animal husbandry, and transportation sectors. The coating of this product possesses a self-healing function at the cut edges; magnesium ions have a unique migration and repair capability, actively migrating to the cut edges after plate cutting and drilling to form a dense protective film, preventing the spread of red rust from the source.
Pangang has achieved full coverage of its aluminum-aluminum-magnesium products for photovoltaic applications, ranging from 250 MPa to 550 MPa, with a product qualification rate consistently above 96%. These products achieve 4000 hours of rust-free performance in neutral salt spray tests. Pangang's photovoltaic steel products have been exported to Southeast Asia for the first time via the China-Laos Railway. Baogang's zinc-aluminum-magnesium coating products have successfully entered the supply chain of leading domestic residential photovoltaic companies. India's Enlight Metals has put into production 550MPa high-strength steel photovoltaic brackets, all using AZ150/180/200 aluminum-zinc coated steel, aiming to support utility-scale photovoltaic projects with a lifespan of over 25 years. In the photovoltaic (PV) mounting system sector alone, China Aneng No. 1 Bureau recently estimated a framework procurement quantity of 80,000 tons. The huge increase in demand brought by new energy sources is becoming the most important growth engine for the coated steel industry.
Conclusion: From chromium-free home appliances to high weather resistance in buildings, from PV mounting systems to ultra-thick zinc-coated structural steel, the coated steel industry in 2026 is demonstrating strong innovation vitality and broad application prospects. Greening and high-end development are no longer just trends, but concrete industrial practices. For coated steel exporters, grasping these application trends and developing high-end differentiated products that meet market demands will be key to overcoming trade barriers and achieving sustainable development.