Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works (NTMK), a subsidiary of the Russian steel producer Evraz Group, has announced that it has started the construction of a new ladle furnace, its fourth ladle furnace for the secondary treatment of steel before casting.
Evraz's investment in the implementation of this project, implemented within the framework of the large scale reconstruction of NTMK's converter shop, amounts to about Ruble 500 million (approx. $17 million).
The construction of the ladle furnace No. 4, which is being supplied by Italian producer of steelmaking machinery and plants Danieli, will last about three months. The equipment installation will be carried out in conditions of continuous steelmaking.
The additional ladle furnace will allow NTMK to increase its secondary treatment capacities and to reduce the share of common grade slabs produced in its concaster No. 4 by concentrating on the output of premium grade slabs, which are used by pipemakers for the production of API standard oil pipes.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in November 2010 Evraz completed the reconstruction of NTMK's continuous billet caster No. 3 and of its oxygen converter No. 4, which allowed it to increase the production capacity of the plant's converter shop to 4.5 million mt of steel per year, as well as to improve the quality of its products. The value of total investments exceeded Ruble 3.3 billion (about $113 million).