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.