On 11 March 2009 Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd (Sumitomo Metals) received the 55th Okochi Memorial Foundation Grand Production Prize for its development of advanced stainless boiler tube for ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired thermal power plants. The Company was awarded for development and practical application of this boiler tube that had made a breakthrough in enabling an advance from the conventional supercritical power plant to the USC plant, for the first time in about 30 years. The developed boiler tube has been globally standardized by enabling to achieve highly energy-efficient operation of thermal power plants throughout the world, particularly by significantly contributing to reduction of CO2 emission and coal usage. The Okochi Memorial Foundation Grand Production Prize, the highest honor among the Okochi Production Prizes, is awarded to an outstanding industrial achievement that is based on distinguished innovative corporate research.
