NLMK said in a statement that the foundation work for the furnace is complete and slab handling equipment has been installed. The furnace shell is now being set up, it said.

The walking beam furnace, which is replacing an older pusher-style furnace at the hot rolling mill, will add 110,000 metric tons of capacity to the hot rolling mill, reducing energy consumption and cutting furnace emissions in half. The installation of more sophisticated slab charging technology also is expected to improve product quality.

“The construction of the reheating furnace is one of the key projects of NLMK's investment program,” the company said in a statement. 

“The start-up of the unit will not only increase NLMK's rolled products output, but also enable a complete transition to a high-performance resource-saving technology intended for heating slabs before rolling.”

The furnace could enter service as soon as October. It is the fourth and last in a series of new furnaces that are replacing the facility’s obsolete pusher furnaces.