Mechel, one of the leading Russian mining and metal companies, has announced the commissioning of a new continuous
billet caster at its subsidiary Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant (CMP).
The new
billet caster with annual capacity of over one million metric tons of 100 mm and 180 mm square and 150 mm round billets cost
Mechel over $100 million.
The new
billet caster is one of the main projects in
Mechel's modernization program, which is aimed at increasing the performance of the company's steel segment through reducing electric power, crude steel and ferroalloy
consumption per metric ton of
billet produced and also significantly improving the quality of finished products.
A large portion of the
billet caster's output will be used for
production of
wire rod and other hardware
production at
Mechel's other subsidiary – Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant. Meanwhile, the remaining output will be allocated for
production of high quality rebars, including thermo-strengthened rebars at CMP.
The equipment for the new
billet caster was supplied by the Italian company Danieli.