The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced the commissioning of its fourth hot dip galvanizing (HDG) line with an annual capacity of 300,000 mt at its main production site in Lipetsk, which will allow it to expand its product mix and to increase its galvanized steel production capacity to 1.2 million mt per year.
The new HDG line No. 4 is designed for the production of wide HDG flats of 0.22 mm to 0.8 mm thickness and of 900 mm to 1,270 mm width, in low carbon steel grades. These products are primarily used in construction and in white goods manufacturing, and up to now have mainly been imported by Russia. Thus, the commissioning of the line will allow NLMK to enter the market with new high value-added products, which have not been produced in Russia before. About 50 percent of the volume produced at the HDG line No.4 will be further processed into pre-painted steel.
NLMK's new HDG line was installed at its dynamo steel shop where a heat-treatment and coating line was previously located. This optimization of the production space in the dynamo steel production shop allows the company to more effectively use its production facilities, and to reduce overall project costs without any decrease in dynamo steel capacities.
The total value of the project, implemented within the framework of NLMK's technical upgrade and development program in cooperation with German steel equipment supplier Andritz Sundwig, amounted to over Ruble 2.5 billion (about $86 million).
Holding about a 30 percent share in the Russian domestic HDG steel market, NLMK produces HDG steel of up to 1,800 mm width and of 0.4 mm to 4 mm thickness, used to manufacture roll-formed shapes, steel structures for construction, and automotive and white goods components. In January-August this year, NLMK produced over 620,000 mt of HDG steel, of which 96 percent was sold in the domestic market.