Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works (NTMK), a subsidiary of the Russian steelmaker and iron ore producer Evraz Group (Evraz) plans in September this year to begin the reconstruction of its continuous billet caster No. 3 and converter No. 4, which will be implemented by Austria-based giant engineering and plantmaking company Siemens VAI.
The reconstruction of converter No. 4 will be conducted with operating steelmaking production, and is scheduled to be completed within 65 days.
Meanwhile, the reconstruction of NTMK's concaster No. 3 will allow the increase of the unit's annual production capacity from the current level of 700,000 mt to up to one million mt, and will also enable the producer to expand its product range.
As a result of the modernization, four new converters and four continuous casting machines will operate at NTMK, allowing it to increase the output of its converter shop to 4.5 million mt of steel per year. In addition, NTMK will be able to decrease the impact on the environment several times over.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in November 2009 Evraz signed a €30 million contract with Siemens VAI for the reconstruction of NTMK's continuous billet caster No. 3, while the contract for the upgrade of the plant's converter shop was signed in 2006. The Austrian plantmaker has already reconstructed NTMK's converters Nos. 1, 2 and 3.