The Ukrainian steel producer Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD) has installed a new blast furnace and the second continuous slab caster at its subsidiary Alchevsk Iron and Steel Works (Alchevsk).
The commencement of production at the mill's second continuous slab caster will allow Alchevsk to increase its annual slab production capacity to 5.5 million metric tons.
In addition, during the 2007-2008 period ISD plans to invest about $1 billion in the modernization of Alchevsk. In particular, the modernization will be concentrated on the replacement of classical casting (where the blooms are cast from the crude steel) with the continuous slab casting process. This modernization will allow Alchevsk to reduce the use of crude steel in slab production.