Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) has announced the signing of a contract with Brazil-based ThyssenKrupp CSA Companhia Siderùrgica for the electrical and mechanical maintenance of all machinery and equipment involved in the steel production process - from the sinter plant and blast furnace to the steel works and slab caster - in the company's new integrated iron and steel works in Sepetiba, a coastal town in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The contract will run for 15 years and the order is worth around €700 million.
In a statement on the issue, Siemens said that in November 2006 ThyssenKrupp CSA awarded the company an order to supply a converter steel works and two slab casters for its new integrated iron and steel works in Brazil, and that the commissioning of the equipment is scheduled for the beginning of 2009 with the aim of achieving an annual production of five million mt of slabs with widths of 800-2,000 mm and thicknesses of 200-260 mm.
ThyssenKrupp plans to supply its domestic production facilities and other main processing facilities with slabs from this new steel production facility. Around 40 percent of the slabs produced in Brazil are to be processed at ThyssenKrupp's German facilities, while 60 percent are foreseen for the NAFTA market. The world's largest iron-ore producer Companhia Vale do Rio Doce will have a 10 percent share in the project.