Japan's Nippon Steel hopes a new type of wide-flange beam being made available in the U.S. for the first time will prove popular in the competitive North American sections market.

Nippon unveiled the new Hyper Beam to potential U.S. buyers at the North American Steel Construction Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

The new beam's flange thickness extends downward, rather than upward, and offers a higher flange-to-web thickness ratio. The downward flange design enables beams with varying flange thicknesses and weight-supporting capabilities to maintain a uniform surface level or outer dimension.

Nippon Steel and two other mills currently sell about 500,000 metric tons annually of this section in the Japanese market. The downward-flange beams will have mostly industrial and high-rise construction applications. No company is currently producing a similar type of beam here.