The Ukrainian special steel producer Dneprospetsstal plans to commission a new electric arc furnace (EAF) at its steelmaking shop No. 3 before 2012. The targeted date of the commissioning is the second half of 2011, with the relevant equipment supply contracts to be concluded in the third quarter of 2009.
Accordingly, Dneprospetsstal is currently in talks for acquisition of EAF equipment with such plantmakers as Italy's Danieli and Tenova, and German-based SMS Concast and Siemens VAI.
The new EAF is projected to have a production capacity of 400,000 mt of steel per year, while investments in the project will amount to approximately to €20 million.
Moreover, by April 2011 Dneprospetsstal also plans the construction and commissioning of a new vacuum induction furnace.
In addition, in 2009 Dneprospetsstal intends to invest about UAH 5 million (approx. €468,300) in energy-efficient projects. The total investments in 2009 in the plant's production expansion, excluding the construction of the new furnaces, will amount to €3 million.
According to the preliminary data, in the first quarter of 2009 Dneprospetsstal registered a 50.6 percent decrease in its finished steel product output to 39,000 mt, and a 59.4 percent drop in its crude steel output to 56,000 mt, both compared to the same period last year. In 2008, the plant produced 482,000 mt of crude steel and 289,000 mt of finished steel products.
Dneprospetsstal is specialized in the production of stainless steel, tool steel, heat-resistant steel, bearings, construction steel and alloys in the form of rods, bars and flats. The plant manufactures more than 800 steel grades and 1,000 cross-sections.