New Caster at Gerdau’s St. Paul, Minn., Mill Begins Production
08/28/2014 - A US$60 million project to replace the continuous caster at Gerdau’s steel mill in St. Paul, Minn., is nearing completion.
Hot commissioning of the new, four-strand Danieli billet caster began this month and it is expected to reach full production by the fourth quarter.
A Gerdau spokeswoman told AIST Steel News that the company is able to run either caster during the controlled startup process, helping to ensure that all customer needs are met. It will decommission the old caster when full production is reached on the new one.
“The new caster will raise productivity and significantly increase quality levels for the engineered steels that we manufacture in St. Paul,” said Peter Campo, president of Gerdau Long Steel North America. “In addition to improving current products for our customers, we expect to expand our customer base into new and more stringent applications.”
The St. Paul mill produces various hot rolled rounds for industries including construction, forging, mining, farm equipment and wind power. The new caster will add aluminum grain refining capabilities and allow for the production of more specialty carbon, alloy and high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels used across many different industries.
Other impressive features include 100% submerged nozzle casting, hydraulic oscillators for improved surface quality, three-point unbending to prevent cracking on even the most demanding and sensitive grades, and a Quality Assessment in Real Time (QART) System, which tracks every 5 inches of the billet cast.
“We are excited by the capabilities of the new caster and the advantages it will offer customers,” said Rogerio Turatti, the vice president and general manager of the St. Paul mill. “This investment is the first step in producing higher-end products, and the great workforce we have in St. Paul will allow us to get to the next level.”
The project received strong support from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and the company was offered state and local incentives from the State of Minnesota, the City of Saint Paul and the St. Paul Port Authority.
The company also entered into an agreement with Xcel Energy that will help to enable the operations to remain competitive in the future. The agreement was reviewed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
Gerdau is the leading producer of long steel in the Americas and one of the largest suppliers of special long steel in the world. It has over 45,000 employees and industrial operations in 14 countries with operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, which together represent an installed capacity of over 25 million metric tons of steel per year. It is the largest recycler in Latin America and around the world it transforms millions of metric tons of scrap into steel every year. Gerdau is listed on the stock exchanges of São Paulo, New York, and Madrid and has approximately 140,000 shareholders.
A Gerdau spokeswoman told AIST Steel News that the company is able to run either caster during the controlled startup process, helping to ensure that all customer needs are met. It will decommission the old caster when full production is reached on the new one.
“The new caster will raise productivity and significantly increase quality levels for the engineered steels that we manufacture in St. Paul,” said Peter Campo, president of Gerdau Long Steel North America. “In addition to improving current products for our customers, we expect to expand our customer base into new and more stringent applications.”
The St. Paul mill produces various hot rolled rounds for industries including construction, forging, mining, farm equipment and wind power. The new caster will add aluminum grain refining capabilities and allow for the production of more specialty carbon, alloy and high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels used across many different industries.
Other impressive features include 100% submerged nozzle casting, hydraulic oscillators for improved surface quality, three-point unbending to prevent cracking on even the most demanding and sensitive grades, and a Quality Assessment in Real Time (QART) System, which tracks every 5 inches of the billet cast.
“We are excited by the capabilities of the new caster and the advantages it will offer customers,” said Rogerio Turatti, the vice president and general manager of the St. Paul mill. “This investment is the first step in producing higher-end products, and the great workforce we have in St. Paul will allow us to get to the next level.”
The project received strong support from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and the company was offered state and local incentives from the State of Minnesota, the City of Saint Paul and the St. Paul Port Authority.
The company also entered into an agreement with Xcel Energy that will help to enable the operations to remain competitive in the future. The agreement was reviewed by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
Gerdau is the leading producer of long steel in the Americas and one of the largest suppliers of special long steel in the world. It has over 45,000 employees and industrial operations in 14 countries with operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, which together represent an installed capacity of over 25 million metric tons of steel per year. It is the largest recycler in Latin America and around the world it transforms millions of metric tons of scrap into steel every year. Gerdau is listed on the stock exchanges of São Paulo, New York, and Madrid and has approximately 140,000 shareholders.
