Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas has awarded Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI) a contract for the erection of a vacuum degassing plant at the Cosipa, São Paulo, steelworks. The contract value amounts to approximately EUR 20 million. The contract follows successful completion of expansion of the facility’s the steel-making plant. VAI handed over the last partial project of the steel-making plant expansion to Cosipa after a construction period of only 26 months. The project included a 160-tonne LD converter, continuous casters, secondary metallurgy and all related infrastructural equipment such as cranes, track systems and buildings on a turnkey basis. The total value of the completed project amounted to approximately EUR 200m. The steel-making expansion will enable Usiminas to increase the annual production at this location from 2.8 million to 4.5 million tonnes. The new facilities have also placed Cosipa into a higher-quality segment.
