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Mechel Commissions Steel Processing Equipment at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant
Jul. 20, 2010 Mechel OAO has commissioned the secondary steel processing equipment within the first stage of the arc-furnace meltshop #6 upgrade at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (CMP).
Commissioned equipment includes the ladle furnace No. 2 (LF-2) for steel processing and a vacuum tank degasser for molten metal degassing. The steel produced at the processing unit is cast into billets at the continuous casting machine. The new LF-2 enables significant improvement of the cast steel quality, according to Mechel.
The company notes that the vacuum degasser with the appropriate infrastructure would allow CMP to extend the range of steel grades manufactured at the arc-furnace meltshop #6, save costs at this processing stage, and improve quality of finished rolled products.
The annual designed capacity of LF-2 is as high as 1.2 million tonnes, and the vacuum degasser is expected to process up to 650,000 tonnes of steel per annum.
In addition to the processing equipment, the project also includes reconstruction of the continuous casting machine #2, which is nearly completed, and environmental protection measures. The new steel processing equipment is supported with an effective gas purifying system. The continuous casting machine #2 gas purifier will be modernized as well.
“The equipment of the arc-furnace meltshop #6 matches the best examples of the world stainless steel-producing plants,” said Andrei Deineko, Chief Executive Officer of Mechel Steel Management OOO. “The new equipment ensures increasing quality of our products and would allow us to increase output of plates and rolls of corrosion-resistant steel grades after reconstruction of our rolling facilities to compete with the leading European producers.”
Mechel is one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies. Its business includes four segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy, and power. The company unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, nickel, steel, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, rolled products, hardware, heat and electric power. Its products are marketed domestically and internationally.