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Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu announced today, August 11 that it will unveil recently completed upgrades to the North American quarto plate facility in New Castle, Indiana, in the United States. The upgrades represent an investment of more than €45 million that will allow the mill to improve production efficiencies to better compete in the global stainless steel market, Outokumpu said.
 
Outokumpu had announced the investment plans in late 2007. According to the company's statement, the Indiana mill is the only Outokumpu location in North America producing specialized stainless steel plate recognized for its high resistance to corrosion.
 
Commenting on the investment, Outokumpu CEO Juha Rantanen said, "We see tremendous potential in the specialty steel being produced at New Castle. The investment program impacted nearly every phase of the operations and will yield best-in-class manufacturing capabilities for products in which Outokumpu already has a very strong market position."
 
The upgrades include new equipment and equipment enhancements for process improvements. These equipment investments include a new plate finishing line with in-line annealing, shot blasting and leveling, as well as improvements to the 120" wide line including state-of-the-art environmental controls
 
Thick and wide individually rolled quarto plates are used in the energy sector, in extracting salt from seawater and transporting chemicals, and are widely employed in the process industries for manufacturing pressure cylinders, tanks, thick-walled tubes, bridge structures and process equipment.