Danieli Centro Met will supply a 75-tonne ladle furnace to Highveld Steel, South Africa. The contract will be carried out on a turnkey basis, and including a materials handling system and water treatment plant.

The new unit will enable an optimized production process and an improved cleanness of the liquid steel coming from the LD converter shop.

Danieli had previously supplied another ladle furnace of the same size in 1993. The first ladle furnace successfully operates at the same plant since then.

The new inert-roof type furnace, served by a 13-MVA transformer, will be fitted with automatic sampling equipment, wire feeding system, emergency stirring lance. The new furnace will be capable of providing a heating rate equal to or greater than 4.5°C/minute.

The new unit features all latest advances in steel refining technology, and is completely interchangeable with the previous one, for operation and spare parts optimization.

The hot startup is foreseen for October 2006.