The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has halted its continuous billet caster No. 3, with an annual capacity of 695,000 mt, at its main production site in Lipetsk in order to carry out reconstruction work.
The reconstruction will allow NLMK to increase the unit's capacity by more than 300,000 mt per year, by increasing casting speed and reducing maintenance intervals. In addition, following the reconstruction, NLMK's continuous billet caster No. 3 will expand its product range to include steel billets of 315 mm maximum thickness. At the same time, as a result of higher automation of the production process, steel quality will also be increased.
Within the scope of the reconstruction, over a period of 11 months NLMK plans to install more than 2,900 mt of new equipment.
The project is a part of the second stage of NLMK's technical upgrade program, which is aimed at increasing steel output to 12.4 million mt per year by 2012. Following reconstruction, the continuous billet caster No. 3 will be the fifth unit recommissioned at NLMK's Lipetsk site.