Chinese pens reach tipping point

SOE Tisco attains a breakthrough in the making of special steel, stirs debate on quality

Shanxi-based Taiyuan Iron & SteelCo Ltd, or Tisco, one of China's major stainless steel producers, has independently developed the special steel needed to make the feedstock for ballpoint pens tips. It is hoped this will replace the annual import of 1,000 metric tons of special steel for making the pen tips.

"The feedstock, as small as it is (only 2.3 millimeters thick), requires an exact proportion of microelements," said Wang Huimian, senior engineer of Taiyuan Iron and Steel.