According to the company, the upgrades will reduce production costs and expand the mill’s product mix. The upgrades also will improve the reliability of deliveries to the mill’s customers in the machine-building sector.

NLMK said the project entailed improvements that now enable the press to forge ingots in three planes -- thickness, width and length. It also included the installation of a new manipulator that can rotate the ingot during forging.

Before the project, the mill had to outsource its ingot processing, which led to higher production costs.

In a statement, Marcello Calcagni, NLMK Verona director, said that not only will the project allow the mill to keep ingot processing – and forging of 800-mm plates – in-house, the installation of additional new equipment will increase heavy plate production by 35 percent.

That improvement is to come with the addition of a furnace to heat ingots during forging and a unit for hot-cutting plates. That work is to be completed by the end of the year.

Investment in the project is expected to cost approximately EUR9 million, the company said.