Using the element boron as a means to increase hardenability, boron steel is designed to achieve a unique combination of ultra high strength and excellent hardness after heat treatment followed by quenching. The product can be supplied in either ‘as rolled' dry or in a pickled and oiled condition, where ‘as rolled' properties are suitable for cold forming prior to, or forming during heat and quenching treatments, such hardness properties after heat treatment lends itself to applications requiring high wear resistance.

Die quenching (also known as press hardening) boron steel allows the customer to achieve an excellent degree of shape accuracy and mechanical performance compared to a cold-formed steel. Die quenched boron steel is a product that allows the designer to use thinner steel gauges to create stronger and lighter structures, which, traditionally, would have used thicker equivalent HSLA and DP steels for the same application. In automotive applications, the weight saving from the use of boron steel is a method of cost effectively reducing CO2 emissions.