In a statement, SMS group said the caster, which will be the second one at the mill, is being designed to produce slabs in thicknesses ranging from 95 mm to 110 mm and in widths ranging from 900 mm to 1,595 mm.

SMS will supply the cast floor equipment, a two-cylinder hydraulic oscillator, and a pendulum shear. It will outfit the caster with its X-Pact Width Control, X-Pact Solid Control thermal model, Level 2 X-Pact Cast Optimizer and HD mold-TC mold monitoring system.  

The company said the contract builds on an existing relationship with the mill. 

“The modifications performed by SMS group to the existing casting strand, as well as the ongoing maintenance of this equipment over the last decade, differentiated SMS group for the supply of the primary casting equipment. SMS is also uniquely positioned to address the challenge of designing the new casting equipment to be interchangeable with the existing casting strand,” it said.

North Star parent BlueScope Steel Ltd. greenlighted the expansion project in August, saying that the addition of the caster and a third electric arc furnace will add 850,000 metric tons of annual capacity.