ArcelorMittal SA, the South African arm of the world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal, has announced the approval of a capacity expansion project at its longs mill at Newcastle, province of KwaZulu-Natal, at a cost $44 million.
The program, which aims at increasing the capacity as well as improving safety and environmental impact, will be implemented in three phases and will be directed towards sinter plant refurbishment, hot metal desulphurization and blast furnace relining.
The construction and the commissioning of the hot metal desulphurization plant will add 80,000 mt of liquid steel to Newcastle, while the relining and other improvements to the blast furnace will provide an additional 60,000 mt of liquid steel.
The project is a part of ArcelorMittal SA's capacity expansion program to raise its overall liquid steel output to 9.5 million mt from the current level of seven million mt within three years.
Commenting on the project, ArcelorMittal SA CEO Rick Reato said, "It has become necessary to upgrade the plant in order for it to continue operating for a further 20 years."
ArcelorMittal owns 52 percent of its South African subsidiary.