Austria-based plantmaker Siemens Metals Technologies has announced that it will upgrade the billet caster in the Calvisano works of Acciaierie di Calvisano, a part of Italian steel producer Feralpi Group.
The upgrade will further improve the internal and surface quality of the billets and allow the casting of round billets in addition to square billets. The revamped casting plant is scheduled to go into operation at the beginning of 2013.
The four-strand billet caster in Calvisano, Brescia has an installed annual capacity of roughly 750,000 mt of billets with square cross sections between 120 x 120 mm and 160 x 160 mm. The line will be equipped with a new machine head in order to also produce round billets with diameters ranging between 140 mm and 180 mm and higher quality steel grades.
The casting plant primarily produce billets made of ordinary steel used predominantly in the production of reinforcing bars and wire rod. The company now also produces high grade steel billets that are suitable for rolling or forging.