Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced that at Severstal-SMC-Vsevolozhsk, its joint venture with Japan's Mitsui, two production lines are currently operating as part of a trial, producing cut-to-length rolled steel from feed metal between 0.5 mm and 3.2 mm thick and up to 1,900 mm in width.
As part of the trial production, the company also has a slitting line currently operating, which produces strip from hot rolled, hot rolled pickled and galvanized steel from feed metal with thickness ranging between 0.3 mm and 4.5 mm and with a maximum width of 1,850 mm.
Severstal stated that two more lines will be commissioned in 2014 to produce welded blanks and cut-to-length steel from feed metal ranging between 0.4 mm and 2.3 mm in thickness. Initial trial runs are scheduled for the first quarter of 2014 with SMC-Vsevolozhsk's production expected to reach approximately 150,000 mt at full capacity.
According to Severstal, approximately 60 percent of SMC-Vsevolozhsk's products will be delivered to automakers, with the remainder sold to construction and machine building companies and to the home appliance sector.