ThyssenKrupp’s Italian stainless operations Acciai Speciali Terni will be expanding their ferritic steel product portfolio to include special grades that can replace classic chromium nickel steels in some areas of application. The company said that this will be achieved with a new VOD converter which is under construction. It is part of a bigger overhaul of the Terni complex, which is being invested heavily in a quid pro quo with the Italian government and unions for the closure of the Turin operations. Much of the latter will be transferred to Terni with the process due to be completed at the end of fiscal 2007-08. The ongoing investment will see melt shop capacity rise to around 1.7 million tonnes per year (tpy) with Terni’s cold rolled production expected to rise incrementally from around 600,000tpy to 700,000tpy in the medium term.
