Due to a technical accident, Russian steel producer Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has temporarily stopped operations at its continuous slab caster No. 6, which was commissioned at its oxygen-converter shop in late 2009 as part of the producer's new plate mill 5000 complex.
Accordingly, on Tuesday, a spill of metal from a ladle at MMK's continuous slab caster No. 6 caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished. A working group will explore the reasons for as well as the damage caused by the accident. Operations at the continuous slab caster No. 6 are expected to be resumed as soon as possible, i.e., within a month.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, MMK's new continuous slab caster No. 6 has a designed capacity of up to 1.6 million mt per year of high quality slabs of 190 mm, 250 mm and 300 mm thickness and of 1,400-2,700 mm width. The caster satisfies the slab feedstock requirements of MMK's new plate mill 5000 which was commissioned in the second half of July 2009.