The Russian steel producer Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced that it has signed contracts worth €15.3 million with German plantmaker SMS Siemag and Swiss company Sytco for the supply of new equipment for the upgrade of its Lipetsk-based steel rolling operations.
Specifically, under the terms of the contract signed with SMS Siemag, between August 2011 and February 2012 SMS Siemag will supply equipment necessary for the modernization of the run-out table of NLMK's hot strip mill. The facility will be upgraded on a gradual basis, culminating in 2013 when the capacity of the hot strip mill will have been increased by 45,000 mt to up to 5.7 million mt per annum.
Meanwhile, under the agreement with Sytco, new equipment for the roll preparation plant at NLMK's cold rolled and coated flat steel shop will be supplied in April 2012. The project will ensure high quality roll surface finishing at NLMK's new cold rolling facilities. The new equipment is planned to be installed in Q4 2012 as part of the second stage of NLMK's technical upgrade program.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, by the implementation of the second stage of its technical upgrade program (2007-2012), NLMK aims to increase its steel production capacity by 40 percent to 17 million mt per year, including an output increase from nine million mt to 12.4 million mt at its Lipetsk site, while it also aims to up its finished product output from 8.9 million mt to 10.7 million mt per year, due to revamping and construction of new rolling facilities producing finished flat steel products.