Baosteel NM500 vs Hardox 500: Specs, Price and Real Mill Certificate Data

Jay Zheng

Nov 12, 2026

Baosteel NM500 vs Hardox 500: Specs, Price and Real Mill Certificate Data

NM500 sits at the practical top of the wear-plate hardness scale — the grade you choose when abrasion, not impact, is what destroys your equipment. Its Swedish counterpart, Hardox 500, defined the class globally. The metallurgy on both sides is through-hardened quenched-and-tempered plate in the 500 HBW class; the differences are price, thin-gauge capability and documentation. As with our other comparisons, this page puts real results from a genuine Baosteel mill certificate — No. BGBWI2504240235400, a 12 mm plate rolled at Wuhan Iron & Steel (Baowu Group) and delivered in April 2025 — next to the published guarantees.

NM500 vs Hardox 500: guaranteed specifications

Guaranteed values, both sides of the comparison
Item	Baosteel NM500	SSAB Hardox 500
Standard / basis	GB/T 24186 + Baosteel technical delivery conditions	SSAB product datasheet
Hardness guarantee	500 HBW class — delivered plates typically measure 470–540 HBW	470–530 HBW (plate ≤ 32 mm); 450–540 HBW (32.1–103 mm)
Yield strength	Real certificate: 1,410 MPa (ReL)	Typical 1,400 MPa — not guaranteed
Tensile strength	Real certificate: 1,723 MPa	Not stated as a guarantee on the datasheet
Impact toughness	Contract option; real certificate: KV2 avg 62 J at −20 °C	Standard grade: typical values only; Hardox 500 Tuf guarantees 27 J at −20 °C (transverse)
Thickness range	≈ 1.5–25 mm heat-treated plate (incl. the 1.5 mm class unique to Baosteel); heavier gauges on request	Plate 4.0–103 mm; sheet 2.0–7.0 mm
Delivery condition	Quenched + tempered	Quenched + tempered (through-hardened)

What a real NM500 certificate shows

The values below are transcribed from inspection certificate No. BGBWI2504240235400, issued by Wuhan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. — the Wuhan base of Baowu Group — on 24 April 2025 for a delivered 12.00 × 2000 × 12000 mm plate:

Real delivered values, NM500 12 mm (cert. BGBWI2504240235400)
Property	Certificate result	Reading
Brinell hardness	518 / 516 / 518 HBW, average 517	Comfortably inside the Hardox 500 hardness window
Yield strength ReL	1,410 MPa	Matches the Hardox 500 typical value — as a measured result
Tensile strength Rm	1,723 MPa	Very high strength reserve for extreme wear parts
Elongation A	11 %	Normal for the class — hardness is bought with ductility
Charpy V KV2, −20 °C	54 / 69 / 64 J, average 62 J	Above the Hardox 500 Tuf guaranteed level, on the base grade
Bend test	90°, d = 8a (96 mm mandrel on 12 mm), OK	Forms cold with generous radii
Ladle analysis	C 0.27 %, S 0.001 %, CEV ≈ 0.61, Cr 0.67 %	Hardness chemistry — weld with discipline

Two readings matter commercially. First, the toughness line: 62 J average at −20 °C on the base grade is a strong number — SSAB itself only guarantees 27 J at −20 °C on the separate Hardox 500 Tuf product. For buyers in cold climates or high-impact duty, that is headroom you do not pay extra for. Second, the chemistry line: C 0.27 % and CEV ≈ 0.61 is honest hardness chemistry. The plate welds well, but it demands low-hydrogen consumables, controlled heat input and preheat on thicker sections — treat it like the high-hardness grade it is, and it performs. Our line-by-line MTC guide shows how to verify these fields on any certificate you receive.

Where Hardox 500 still has the edge — and where NM500 wins

Hardox 500 keeps its role where the specification is written around the brand: OEM documentation, European and American stock programs, and projects where the name itself is the procurement requirement. NM500 wins the economic comparison decisively: a materially lower FOB price per ton for the same hardness class (indicatively 820–900 USD/MT for standard sizes, versus the SSAB premium), thin heat-treated gauges down to 1.5 mm — a Baosteel unique — and mill documentation including ISO 14025-verified EPDs. When the wear part is consumption steel, not a branding exercise, the certificate data above is the technical basis for an equivalent-submission bid.

Choosing between NM450, NM500 and the E-grades

Stay with NM450 for general severe wear with forming and welding in the workshop. Move to NM500 when pure sliding abrasion dominates: crusher liners, bucket lips and heels, screw conveyors, glass-recycling equipment, sand and gravel plant wear parts. Choose NM500E when the same duty arrives with impact or sub-zero temperatures and a brittle fracture would stop the machine. And remember the whole NM series is available from 1.5 mm — at the thin end, the world's only 1.5 mm heat-treated wear plate is a Baosteel product. See the full NM400/NM450/NM500 series page for stock sizes and FOB pricing, the NM450 vs Hardox 450 comparison for the middle class, or the AR500 vs Hardox 500 vs NM500 three-way read if you are also weighing the American AR standard.

Need NM500 with original Baosteel mill certificates? Send us your thickness and quantity — we reply with stock availability and a firm FOB quote.

Further reading:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Baosteel NM500 the same as Hardox 500?

In hardness class, yes. Hardox 500 guarantees 470–530 HBW on plate up to 32 mm (450–540 HBW above); Baosteel NM500 sits in the same 500 HBW class under GB/T 24186, and the real certificate on this page measured 517 HBW average on a delivered 12 mm plate. The differences are practical rather than metallurgical: Hardox 500 carries the SSAB brand premium and global stock network; NM500 delivers the same hardness class at a materially lower FOB price, with Baosteel's thin-gauge capability down to 1.5 mm — a class no one else produces.

NM500 vs NM450 — which wear plate do I actually need?

Match the steel to the failure mode, not to the brochure. NM450 covers most earthmoving and mining wear: dump bodies, hoppers, chutes, mixer drums. Step up to NM500 when sliding abrasion is severe and impact is controlled: crusher liners, dragline and excavator bucket parts, screw conveyors handling abrasive fines, glass and quartz handling. The extra 50 HBW can double life in pure abrasion — but the plate is less forgiving to bend and weld, so if your part needs heavy forming or sees impact loading, NM450 or NM500E is usually the better economics.

Is NM500 cheaper than Hardox 500?

Yes. NM500 from a first-tier Chinese mill such as Baosteel trades well below Hardox 500 per ton for the same hardness class — you are paying for steel, not the SSAB brand premium. Indicative FOB Shanghai pricing for NM500 runs around 820–900 USD/MT depending on thickness, width and volume — check the product page for the current figure. The spread moves with ore, alloy and freight markets, so request a firm quote for your specification.

What is NM500E, and when should I pay for it?

NM500E is the high-toughness variant of NM500: the same hardness class with guaranteed low-temperature impact energy for parts that see shock as well as abrasion — shredder rotors, bucket cheeks, crusher frames, wear parts in cold climates. Standard NM500 is bought for pure abrasion resistance; specify the E when a brittle fracture would take the machine down, not just the liner.

Can NM500 be welded and bent in the workshop?

Yes, with more discipline than lower grades. The certificate on this page shows C 0.27 % and carbon equivalent around 0.61 — real hardness chemistry, so welding needs low-hydrogen consumables, moderate heat input and typically 100–150 °C preheat on thicker sections. Bending is done cold to generous radii: the same certificate shows a 90° bend at d = 8a (a 96 mm mandrel on 12 mm) passing OK. Plan forming generously, keep heat input controlled, and the grade performs.