The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that, within the framework of the implementation of its investment project for the creation of a complete cycle for plate production, it is continuing the construction of its new slab concaster No. 6 and of its secondary steel treatment unit. The new units are scheduled to be commissioned by the end of the current year.
Accordingly, MMK is finalizing the assembly of the workshop and the construction of other units, and has started the installation of the equipment for the continuous slab caster, supplied by German plant building company SMS Demag.
The new slab concaster No. 6, which will be located on an area of 87,500 square meters, will have a production capacity of 1.65 million mt per year and will satisfy the slab feedstock requirements of MMK's new plate mill 5000, commissioned in the second half of July this year.
Meanwhile, MMK is also continuing the construction of its secondary steel treatment unit, supplied by the German secondary metallurgical equipment producer SMS-Mevac GmbH. About 80 percent of the foundation upon which equipment (ladle furnace and vacuum degasser) is to be placed has already been completed. The purpose of the secondary treatment unit is to ensure that all the steel poured into the slab concaster No. 6 acquires the characteristics needed to produce plate with strength of up to X120 used for the production of large diameter pipes, and to broaden the mix of steel grades, especially as regards special steels.