Izhstal, a subsidiary of the Russian mining and steel producing company Mechel, has announced that in two years' time it will move away from steel production by open-hearth furnace (OHF) and switch completely to use of electric arc furnace (EAF).
The complete switch to EAF will be carried out in the framework of Izhstal's investment program directed at the reconstruction of the plant's production capacities. In addition to the introduction of the new EAF, Izhstal is also planning to construct a new continuous billet caster and to install the equipment necessary for steel treatment outside the blast furnace.
In the framework of its current investment program, Mechel will invest about $140 million up to 2011 in Izhstal's modernization.