The Russian steel and pipe producer OMK has announced that its Novgorod-based pipemaking subsidiary Vyksa Steel Works (Vyksa) plans in the second quarter of 2011 to commission its new mill 5000 with an annual capacity of 1.2 million mt of wide sheet of up to X120 strength grade.
Accordingly, currently Vyksa has started the installation of the mill's main equipment, which is planned to be completed in February 2011, following which it will carry out the cold and full-scale testing. Along with the installation, the supply of the mill's processing equipment is continuing and will last until November 2010.
The total investments for the construction of the mill 5000, started in 2007, are estimated at Ruble 47 billion (about $1.55 billion), of which Ruble 19.6 billion (about $645 million) were invested up to July 2010.
The mill 5000 will fully provide Vyksa with wide sheets with enhanced application properties for the production of large diameter pipes of a new generation. The sheets will not only cover the company's own needs but will also be supplied to other companies operating in the metallurgical machine-building, shipbuilding, and nuclear industries
"After the completion of this large-scale project, OMK will be the first in the world to have on a single production site a flat rolling mill next to a large-diameter pipe production complex," said the company in its statement.
The general contractor for construction of the mill 5000 is the Austrian company Strabag, while the main supplier of equipment is the German plantmaker SMS Siemag.