TimkenSteel's Vertical Caster Surpassing Expectations
10/31/2016 - TimkenSteel is keeping its vertical jumbo-bloom caster as busy as possible, with about 45% percent of the steel melted at its Faircrest, Ohio, mill being cast on the machine, TimkenSteel chairman and chief executive Tim Timken said on Friday.
Speaking during a conference call to discuss the company’s third-quarter earnings, Timken said the caster is continuing to perform better than expected.
“The yield productivity quality really is surpassing our original expectations. So we continue to load that asset as we get the customer certifications,” Timken said. “We’ve been shifting melt between Harrison and Faircrest pretty aggressively as well to get the advantages off that caster.”
The US$200 million machine, which cast its first heat in October 2014, can produce rectangular, special bar quality blooms measuring up to 18 by 24 inches, the largest such blooms in the world.
Timken told analysts that the company has been looking up and down the supply chain for new opportunities for the caster and its other steelmaking assets.
“We are finding opportunities in everything from supplying billets and tube shells to providing conversion services,” Timken said.
“We are using this period of lower demand to push these capabilities into new areas. We already are seeing value from those operations and it’s clear that we’ll deliver exponentially more value when we run that equipment full in a more robust market.”
“The yield productivity quality really is surpassing our original expectations. So we continue to load that asset as we get the customer certifications,” Timken said. “We’ve been shifting melt between Harrison and Faircrest pretty aggressively as well to get the advantages off that caster.”
The US$200 million machine, which cast its first heat in October 2014, can produce rectangular, special bar quality blooms measuring up to 18 by 24 inches, the largest such blooms in the world.
Timken told analysts that the company has been looking up and down the supply chain for new opportunities for the caster and its other steelmaking assets.
“We are finding opportunities in everything from supplying billets and tube shells to providing conversion services,” Timken said.
“We are using this period of lower demand to push these capabilities into new areas. We already are seeing value from those operations and it’s clear that we’ll deliver exponentially more value when we run that equipment full in a more robust market.”
