NDE Advertorial

NDE Scored First Order in SA of Exciting New Stainless Steel Alloy

NDE Durban became the first (and to date, only) stainless steel stockist in SA to place an order of Sanicro® 35 for the SA market. In another South African first for the company, Sanicro® 351 was ordered for application in a  urban-based factory in March 2024. This grade is one of the world’s newest stainless steel alloys.

This follows on from NDE’s innovative success with Lean Duplex (LDX 2101) stainless steels which were introduced into South Africa in the early 2000’s by NDE.


“A new alloy is always an exciting development in the world of corrosion resistant stainless steel because of the new solutions and benefits for customers. We are proud to have been the first in South Africa with Sanicro® 35”
Hardy Esterhuizen, Managing Director of NDE.

To date, NDE is the only company in South African who have placed an order for Sanicro® 35. “Our technical expertise in appropriate material
selection for specific applications brought this exciting new alloy into South Africa as a solution for a customer with a complex corrosion problem,” says Antonie Davis, Durban Branch Manager.

“The new alloy provides excellent properties for many harsh environments at a market-related, stable price,” he says.

Sanicro® 35 for long life in harsh corrosive environments:

  • Excellent resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion
  • Excellent resistance to stress corrosion cracking (SCC)
  • High resistance to uniform corrosion in acid and caustic environments
  • High resistance to erosion-corrosion
  • Very high mechanical strength
  • Good weldability using nickel-based alloy consumables
  • Good fabricability, i.e. machining and forming
  • Competitive and stable price
  • Bridging the gap between austenitic and high nickel alloys

A competitive and stable price is another big advantage of the new material. Comprising 35% nickel and 6.4% molybdenum versus the 58% nickel and 9% molybdenum of Inconel 625, Sanicro® 35 reduces exposure to market volatility in these metals.

‘In addition, the high mechanical strength often allows for thinner plate to be used in equipment design, further reducing costs,” says Antonie Davis.

Developed to fill the gap between austenitic and high nickel alloys, Sanicro® 35 is a competitive alternative to nickel-based alloys such as Inconel 625 and others, for corrosion resistance in demanding industrial environments.

“Our customer needed a solution for large impellers in a very corrosive environment where lifespan was limited by corrosion and the cost of replacement was significant,” says Philan Pillay, the Sales Representative who pioneered the new solution with NDE’s technical team.

Basil Goldswain, consulting Engineer on NDE’s technical team, assisted in a variety of assessments of the new alloy, also supplying samples to the customer for their own inhouse testing.

“We highlighted the Pitting Resistance Equivalent (PRE) of Sanicro® 35 at a benefi cial 52, whereas in comparison, 904L has a PRE of 35. While Inconel 625 has a similar PRE (51) to Sanicro® 35, Inconel 625 is more expensive due to higher nickel and molybdenum content,” says Basil.

“Sanicro® 35 is a material of the future. We expect it to take a big share of the current market for Alloy 625.” says Marie Louise Falkland, senior Technical Manager at Outokumpu who are producing the new alloy under license from Alleima (previously Sandvik).

NDE is accepting orders for hot rolled plate up to 50mm thick as well as cold rolled sheet 0.4-5.5 mm thick. Before placing the order, NDE will do the necessary technical assessment of your corrosion problem with you to ensure that this is the appropriate material and meets the criteria of your application, including but not limited to:

  • Life span
  • Operating conditions
  • Standard Operating Procedures
  • Testing

Where required, NDE supplies corrosion coupons for corrosion testing and, if necessary, can organise laboratory testing.

“Our research into the special properties of Sanicro® 35 over the past year or two has highlighted a number of typical applications and environments where it could provide significant benefits,” says Basil Goldswain.

Call NDE and chat to one of our experienced sales team who can assist with your query and escalate where necessary to our Technical Team to discuss Sanicro® 35 if you are experiencing corrosion related problems in any of the following areas, or you would like us to help you find the appropriate stainless steel alloy for your particular conditions:

  • Tube plate & shell of tubular heat exchangers
  • Scrubbers
  • Flue gas cleaning
  • Carbon capture
  • Sea water
  • Brine
  • Chlorinated acids
  • Chlorinated hydrocarbons
  • Chemical
  • Petrochemical
  • Refinery industry
  • Inorganic acids
  • Organic acids
  • Fine chemicals
  • Oil & gas equipment
  • Biorefining
  • Geothermal

Sanicro® 35 sheet and plate are both covered by the ASTM B625 and ASME code Case 2982, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division I and II.

Sanicro® 351 is a trademark owned by Alleima AB and produced as plate and sheet by Outokumpu under a license agreement.