UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies has announced that it will supply a new four-strand continuous bloom caster for Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG’s Leoben steel works. The new plant will be designed to produce 950,000 metric tons of the highest quality blooms per year and it will replace the existing two-strand continuous bloom caster. A fifth strand can be added to increase the production capacity if needed at a later date. The new plant is scheduled to be brought into operation at the end of 2019.
The continuous caster will produce round blooms with a diameter of 230 mm and rectangular blooms with a cross-section of 270 mm x 360 mm, and it is designed so that it can also produce a format of 440 mm x 330 mm.