Shi Tieshuan: Responsibility as Chairman of the Raw Materials Committee

The Raw Materials Committee of China Coated Abrasives Association was formally founded in Nov. 2014. Shi Tieshuan, chairman of the board of Yichuan Dongfeng Abrasives Co., Ltd., was elected as chairman of the committee. Devoted to the abrasives industry for decades, Shi founded Yichuan Dongfeng Abrasives Co., Ltd. and became a successful entrepreneur.

Early in the beginning of 1990s, Shi left the state-owned enterprise that he had been working for over a decade and began to set foot in the abrasives industry. In 2000, Dongfeng Abrasives started to make research into calcined abrasives and coated abrasives field. In 2002, the first tunnel furnace calcined abrasives production line in China was completed by Dongfeng Abrasives that also began to produce calcined abrasives for coated abrasives products in bulk. Currently, Dongfeng Abrasives had become the biggest manufacturer of high-temperature calcined abrasives in China. Under situations where brown fused alumina is confronted with overcapacity problem, Shi led the company by technological innovation. New products boosted customers' demand.

As a senior raw materials supplier for coated abrasives products, Shi has an in-depth knowledge of the role raw materials have been playing in the entire coated abrasives products industrial chain. In his opinion, innovation in coated abrasives products is an experimental period of coordination and trial and error. Therefore, long-term cooperation system is beneficial to the upgrading and further development of coated abrasives products. It was with this purpose that Shi advocated the founding of the Raw Materials Committee.

Shi regards the position of chairman of the committee as both an honor and a responsibility. Coated abrasives products consist of three elements – abrasives, bonding agents, and substrates. The three major elements cover different industries and fields, such as textile, papermaking, chemical industry, and smelting. Each of these industries and fields has different resource allocation and technical standards. Therefore, strategic cooperation between the upstream industry and downstream industry needs to be built. 

As to China's domestic raw materials market, Shi thinks that China's coated abrasives industry is developing towards high-end market. Currently, Dongfeng Abrasives is capable of providing conventional abrasives, but some high-end abrasives are from export. More than 95% of the brown fused alumina produced by Dongfeng Abrasives have replaced foreign products in terms of quality and output, and guarantee the development of China's abrasive sanding belts. High-end zirconia alumina, single crystalline fused alumina, and ceramic abrasives are superior in production standard.

When it comes to his plans, Shi explained his idea. "The first step", he says, "is to visit abrasives companies". A mutual trust system between downstream and upstream industries of the entire abrasives industry. The Raw Materials Committee should be taken good use of to keep up with global industry developing trends. Meanwhile, information exchange is also encouraged.

As the "industrial teeth" of coated abrasives products, abrasives should be upgraded. With the help of the Raw Materials Committee, China's Coated Abrasives Industry will develop better.