Ukrainian mining and steel producing group Metinvest has announced the inauguration of the continuous casting machine No.4 at its Ilyich facility, a significant project for Ukraine, with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also in attendance.
According to the company statement, the new casting machine allows for a 40 percent capacity increase and complies with European standards of environmental protection.
The continuous casting machibe supplied by UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies started to be built in September 2016. It will allow the Ilyich facility to produce 2.5 million mt of 17-250 mm x 900-1,550 mm cast slabs per year.
The project is expected to create a revenue of $1 billion through high quality steel exports. Metinvest invested $150 million in the project.