German plantmaker SMS Demag has announced that India's steelmaker Essar Steel Ltd.has placed an order with the company for the supply of the third casting strand for its compact strip production plant (CSP®) in Hazira, in the state of Gujarat.
The scope of the order in question includes SMS Demag's engineering, manufacturing of equipment and electrical and Plug & Work automation system, supervision of installation and commissioning.
The third strand will be a vertical bending machine, which will allow the adjustment of slab thickness from 55 to 80 mm.
The first construction stage of the CSP® plant will be put into operation in 2009 with two strands, while the commissioning of the third strand is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2010.
The world's first CSP® plant equipped with three casting strands will allow Essar Steel to increase its annual hot strip capacity to about 3.5 million mt.
The CSP® plant is designed for strips of 950 to 1,680 mm in width and with thicknesses ranging from 1.0 to 25.4 mm. The product range includes carbon steels, tube grades, silicon and dual phase steels.