The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has commenced the reconstruction of bell furnaces for high-temperature annealing of transformer steel at its Lipetsk production area.
The reconstruction is in line with NLMK's technical upgrading program and will allow the company to increase its production of steel of higher grades and to double the capacity of each furnace aggregate.
In the second stage of the program, NLMK is to replace 10 furnaces with aggregates equipped with fundamentally new systems of heating, gas distribution and cooling.
The total cost of the project will be worth more than Ruble 600 million (approx. $25.344 million).
The furnaces are due to start production operations in February 2009.