The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that as part of the 2,500 mm hot rolling mill revamping project, carried out at its flat rolling shop No. 4, it is currently constructing three new high-performance heating furnaces.
Accordingly, two of the new heating furnaces are planned to be commissioned by the end of 2011, while the third one is expected to be commissioned in the spring of 2012.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the 2,500 mm hot rolling mill revamping project is to allow MMK to increase the mill's annual production capacity by 25 percent from 4 million mt to 5 million mt and also to roll tube steel grades of strengths X60, X65 and X70.
After the revamping, which is being carried out in conditions of ongoing production, the mill's equipment will include three high-performance heating furnaces, a roughing mill, a pre-finishing stand, an intermediate roller table, a coiler and coil-handling mechanisms. In the summer of 2010, MMK commissioned its cutting line No. 5 as part of this project.
The main process equipment for the mill will be manufactured by Ukraine's Novokramatorsk Mechanical Engineering Plant, with Czech Republic-based ALTA acting as the general supplier of both main process and off-contract equipment.