The beginning of August marked an eventful period at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, as the Ukrainian plant not only celebrated its 79th anniversary, but also 2 successful years of continuous casting. The continuous casting department and facilities started operating in 2011 to fulfil the obligations undertaken as part of Kryvyi Rih’s sales and purchase agreement signed in October 2005. The project required a total investment of USD 120M.
The continuous casting department today operates a ladle furnace as well as six radial-type strand billet casters, producing billets from carbon, structural and low-alloyed steel grades.
An event, attended by top managers as well as former and present employees, was organised on 2 August to celebrate the second anniversary of the casting line. The members of the project teams who played a pivotal role in setting up the continuous casting department were the guests of honour of the event and were presented with honorary certificates. A 7t, 3.5m sculpture made of five 150х150mm steel billets was also unveiled to mark the event.
The continuous casting department had produced the first 1Mt of finished products since its commissioning in April 2013. Today, its production capacity is 100,000t per month. Other important projects – such as upgrades of some production facilities and the construction of a second continuous casting machine – are already in the pipeline.