The international technology and capital goods group voestalpine Group is investing over EUR 100M in a new continuous caster at the steel plant in Linz, which will produce over 1.2 million tons of high quality steel slabs annually. The largest of the four Group divisions, the Steel Division, is again raising the quality of steel grades with the most stringent surface requirements as a result of this technological development.
Photo courtesy of voestalpine
The ground-breaking ceremony for the new Continuous Caster 8 (CC8) at the plant site was held on 16 July. Construction is estimated to require 24 months. With a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, the new CC8 will take over around a fifth of all steel slab production on site and replace Continuous Caster 3 (CC3). The CC8 is designed to cast a single strand, for slabs with a thickness of up to 22.5cm and a width of between 80cm to 182cm. Future adaptations will permit casting of slabs with a thickness of up to 28.5cm. The slabs themselves are primarily high strength steel grades, ultra-low carbon steels with the most stringent of surface requirements for the automotive industry, and electric steel grades.
