ArcelorMittal Ostrava Announces US$53 Million Steel Shop Revamp
10/08/2013 - ArcelorMittal Ostrava is revamping the continuous casting machine (CCM) in its steel shop. The aim of the project, worth a billion crowns (US$53m) is to improve the quality of steel as well as to produce new high value added products.
The revamp will help ArcelorMittal Ostrava to export to pipe manufacturers outside Europe, catering to the growing oil and gas exploration industry. The project will be completed at the end of 2013.
“We are happy that in spite of the prolonged crisis we could invest in this revamp. The new products and a better quality will improve our product portfolio and will help us to face competition in the market. This investment will have a positive influence on our exports, which comprises approximately 50 per cent of our output nowadays,” said Tapas Rajderkar, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of ArcelorMittal Ostrava.
For more than 60 years, the steel shop has been the cornerstone of the Ostrava plant. Liquid steel is produced in three tandem furnaces. It is then processed in ladle furnaces and continuously cast into billets and slabs. The first continuous casting facility (CCM1) that was installed in the steel shop, commissioned in 1993, is now being revamped.
The modernization of CCM1 will enable the company to cast round billets for the manufacturing of seamless pipes with diameter of up to 400 mm, compared with the current maximum diameter of 210 mm. The new formats will be used for the manufacture of high quality products, notably seamless pipes produced by new rolling technologies. The production of square billets for the company's own rolling mills will be retained.
Part of the new technology will be a vacuum degasser. The process of degassing will reduce the contents of undesirable gases and elements in steel, so the revamped facility will be producing steel of considerably better quality parameters than before. “The steel will meet demanding requirements for very low levels of hydrogen and sulphur, which is important for pipes used in high-acidity and high-pressure environments, for example for extraction of oil or transport of acid media,” explained Rajderkar.
The CCM revamp including the construction of the vacuum degasser will be completed in November 2013. The revamped steel shop will not have any adverse effect on the company's environmental footprint. The investment plan has obtained EIA approval as well as an integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPS) permit from the regional authority. The newly installed equipment will conform to the best available technique requirements. The vacuum degasser will be equipped with a bag filter with 99% efficiency.
ArcelorMittal Ostrava a.s. is the largest steelmaker in the Czech Republic and part of the world’s largest steel and mining group ArcelorMittal. It has an annual production capacity of 3 million tonnes of steel. Besides the Czech market, the company sells its products to more than 40 countries around the world. ArcelorMittal Ostrava and its subsidiaries employ more than 7500 people. Average income of its employees amounted to 34,213 CZK in 2012. ArcelorMittal Ostrava produces iron and steel in compliance with all environmental legislation. It already conforms to the EU best available techniques (BAT) emission limits that will come into force in 2016. The sole shareholder is ArcelorMittal Holdings A.G.
“We are happy that in spite of the prolonged crisis we could invest in this revamp. The new products and a better quality will improve our product portfolio and will help us to face competition in the market. This investment will have a positive influence on our exports, which comprises approximately 50 per cent of our output nowadays,” said Tapas Rajderkar, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of ArcelorMittal Ostrava.
For more than 60 years, the steel shop has been the cornerstone of the Ostrava plant. Liquid steel is produced in three tandem furnaces. It is then processed in ladle furnaces and continuously cast into billets and slabs. The first continuous casting facility (CCM1) that was installed in the steel shop, commissioned in 1993, is now being revamped.
The modernization of CCM1 will enable the company to cast round billets for the manufacturing of seamless pipes with diameter of up to 400 mm, compared with the current maximum diameter of 210 mm. The new formats will be used for the manufacture of high quality products, notably seamless pipes produced by new rolling technologies. The production of square billets for the company's own rolling mills will be retained.
Part of the new technology will be a vacuum degasser. The process of degassing will reduce the contents of undesirable gases and elements in steel, so the revamped facility will be producing steel of considerably better quality parameters than before. “The steel will meet demanding requirements for very low levels of hydrogen and sulphur, which is important for pipes used in high-acidity and high-pressure environments, for example for extraction of oil or transport of acid media,” explained Rajderkar.
The CCM revamp including the construction of the vacuum degasser will be completed in November 2013. The revamped steel shop will not have any adverse effect on the company's environmental footprint. The investment plan has obtained EIA approval as well as an integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPS) permit from the regional authority. The newly installed equipment will conform to the best available technique requirements. The vacuum degasser will be equipped with a bag filter with 99% efficiency.
ArcelorMittal Ostrava a.s. is the largest steelmaker in the Czech Republic and part of the world’s largest steel and mining group ArcelorMittal. It has an annual production capacity of 3 million tonnes of steel. Besides the Czech market, the company sells its products to more than 40 countries around the world. ArcelorMittal Ostrava and its subsidiaries employ more than 7500 people. Average income of its employees amounted to 34,213 CZK in 2012. ArcelorMittal Ostrava produces iron and steel in compliance with all environmental legislation. It already conforms to the EU best available techniques (BAT) emission limits that will come into force in 2016. The sole shareholder is ArcelorMittal Holdings A.G.
