Category: Latest Updates

ArcelorMittal Italia’s new chief executive Lucia Morselli has informed unions of the plan to shut down equipment of the former Ilva steelmaking plant in Taranto.

A union source confirms to Kallanish that blast furnace no.2 will be idled on 13 December. Blast furnaces no.1 and 4 are scheduled to shut down on 15 January and 30 December respectively. Strip mill no.2 will be idled on 26 November, while strip mill no.1 is currently not working. When all blast furnaces are idled, power plants 2 and 3 together with the coke plants will also be shut down. Blast furnaces no.3 and 5 have been idled for several years.

ArcelorMittal confirmed the above dates to Kallanish.

When ArcelorMittal started the procedure to officially withdraw from the Ilva purchase at the beginning of November, “…it asked the Special Commissioner to take back responsibility for Ilva’s operations and employees within 30 days from the receipt of the withdrawal letter,” a source close to the company confirmed earlier this month.

A meeting between Lucia Morselli, trade unions and the Ministry of Economic Development (Mise) is scheduled for 15 November in Rome.

ArcelorMittal Italia said Thursday it will place all blast furnaces at the former Ilva steelworks in Taranto on standby mode by January 15, 2020, as it moves to shut down all production at the site.

The company — which on November 4 told the Italian government it plans to pull out of its agreement to lease, purchase and operate Ilva — has meanwhile denied local press reports that it may remain as the site’s operator until May 2020.

AM Italia CEO Lucia Morselli has informed the unions of the blast furnace shutdown plan, union sources told S&P Global Platts. According to an official union note, BF2 will stop operating on December 12, BF4 on December 30, and BF1 on January 15, while the Strip Mill 2 will be closed between November 26 and 28, due to a lack of orders, Marco Bentivogli, Secretary General of FIM CISL stated.

An AM Group spokesman confirmed that the company has started the process to put the BFs in standby mode “and we estimate the process to take 60 days.”

AM Italia sources denied press reports that ArcelorMittal had told Michele Emiliano, Governor of the Puglia Region, that it will remain as manager of the former Ilva plant until May next year.

An Arcelor Mittal Group spokesman said that — as reported in its November 4 press release — it has asked the Special Commissioners to take back responsibility for Ilva’s operations and employees within 30 days from receipt of the withdrawal letter. On Tuesday ArcelorMittal asked the Court of Milan to withdraw from the former Ilva rental contract, as notified.

AM Italia took the decision to withdraw from Ilva after parliament removed legal protection from the company, leaving its managers liable to prosecution over environmental issues. The decision was also taken as a result of the criminal court of Taranto obliging the Ilva extraordinary commissioners to meet certain conditions at the works by December 13, failing which blast furnace number 2 would be shut down.

ArcelorMittal said in its earnings statement that AMInvestCo, which has been operating Ilva, has been loss-making since its consolidation into the Group’s accounts in November 2018. Its 3Q19 performance was impacted by an extraordinary weather event at the port close to the Taranto plant, resulting in raw material constraints. As a result, production levels at the plant were reduced to a 3.8 million mt/year run rate during the quarter, it said. The company was operating this capacity with three blast furnaces.

Thyssenkrupp Steel has this week launched a series of tests into the use of hydrogen in a blast furnace during regular operation. 

At the start of the tests, hydrogen is being injected through one of the 28 tuyeres of blast furnace no.9 in Duisburg. The starting button was symbolically pushed by the economy minister of North Rhine Westphalia, which supports the projects financially. Another partner is gases maker Air Liquide. Tk Steel plans to gradually extend the use of hydrogen to all 28 tuyeres on blast furnace no.9 and then, from 2022, to all three further blast furnaces. 

In the classic blast furnace process around 300kg of coke and 200kg of pulverized coal are needed to produce 1 tonne of pig iron. While injecting coal produces CO2 emissions, hydrogen produces only water vapor. CO2 savings of up to 20% are therefore already possible at this point in the production process, Kallanish hears from the steelmaker.

The use of hydrogen is meant to be taken to an industrial scale. Preliminary investigations and simulations have been carried out over recent months, before transferring the technology to regular operation. “We want to reduce emissions with hydrogen while continuing to produce pig iron of the same quality,” says Arnd Köfler, tk Steel chief technical officer.

Following the conversion of the blast furnaces, the company plans to build large-scale direct reduction plants, which will then be operating with hydrogen-containing gases, starting in the mid-2020s.

On last 13 November 2019, the Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LCL) of the University of Luxembourg had invited to a roundtable on metal additive manufacturing.

Guest expert was Mr. Arvid Eirich, Director Finance, Sales & Technology of Berlin based association Mobility Goes Additive.

The roundtable was introduced and moderated by Professor Anne Lange, Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

The roundtable highlighted the development of Additive Manufacturing in automotive applications, mainly for prototypes, but also for small series and spare parts for the aftermarket and the vintage car market.

Another field of growing applications are spare parts and maintenance in maritime sectors, leading eventually to 3D printers being available for spare part printing on ships sailing on the long course.

Medical devices are another growth sector for Additive Manufacturing.

Finally, Public Transport and prominently rail transport (maintenance, spare parts) were outlined as interesting application sectors.

Additive Manufacturing might become a new trend setter for creating unique products, for differentiating product & service, for promoting small and smart production hubs and as enabler to bring back manufacturing to Europe.

Additive Manufacturing enables new designs, lighter components and eliminates many assembly steps in production lines.

On the other hand, new designs may require more scrutiny and testing and new certification.

One other issue is that Additive Manufacturing does not deliver homogenous density.

Growth of Additive Manufacturing is estimated to be annually above 20 % in coming years.

Available 3D Printing technology is very versatile and developing exponentially.

Regarding the metal supply chain, Additive Manufacturing is estimated to reduce lead times, to minimize tooling costs, to lower transportation costs, to decrease warehousing space and residence times.

First conclusions of a survey, conducted by LCL and associate TU Darmstadt among European companies, show that large companies tend to in-source Additive Manufacturing whereas SMEs rather opt to rely on out-sourced Additive Manufacturing capabilities.

The survey identified some key arguments for in-sourcing Additive Manaufacturing:

• Available financial resources
• Specialized teams are existing
• Commitment of the board
• Use cases are identified and tested opening the way to serial applications
• Intellectual Property concerns

Arguments for out-sourcing summarize as follows:

• Reluctance to invest in a new expensive technology
• Lack of specialized teams
• Learning and acceptance considerations
• Searching for use cases
• Applications are prominently samples and prototypes.

Full survey report shall be issued soon and will be available by LCL

As a takeaway of the roundtable we may generally retain, that Metal Additive Manufacturing opens new horizons to enterprises regarding agility, product customization, customer differentiation, efficiency of limited or small series manufacturing and as such will open new doors for enhanced metal value & supply chain models, with short lead and cycle times, with significantly reduced logistics costs and with limited working capital binding.

ArcelorMittal Italia has informed trade unions that it intends to ramp down its Taranto blast furnaces by 15 January, according to a note obtained by Argus.

Blast furnace 2 will be idled on 13 December and blast furnace 4 on 30 December, chief executive Lucia Morselli told unions. Blast furnace 1 will stop on 15 January, and the closure of the site’s coking and power plants is also planned.

Blast furnaces 5 and 3 are not operational.

ArcelorMittal has already denied that it will remain at Taranto until May 2020, as suggested by local press and market sources. The company told Argus it expects the special commissioner to take back ownership within 30 days of its termination notice, which was sent on 4 November.

By Colin Richardson

The European steel market continues to be affected by uncertainty over the future of global steelmaker ArcelorMittal’s Taranto plant in Italy, after the company denied claims that it will continue to operate the former Ilva operations until May.

ArcelorMittal rejected claims from local press reports and indications from market participants that it had confirmed to Puglia regional governor Michele Emiliano that it will operate the plant until May. The president of local industry association Confindustria Taranto, Antonio Marinaro, suggested yesterday that the steelmaker would operate the plant until May, after receiving a call from Emiliano.

But ArcelorMittal reiterated to Argus that it has asked the special commissioner to take back responsibility for Ilva within 30 days from the receipt of the company’s withdrawal letter, sent on 4 November.

ArcelorMittal Italia is still not offering product from Ilva, market participants said, despite the reports suggesting that it would run the plant until May to avoid a legal dispute with the government.

ArcelorMittal chief executive Lakshmi Mittal is expected to meet Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte in Rome in the coming days, although this could not be confirmed.

Domestic Italian hot-rolled coil prices have edged up this week as a result of anticipated production disruption. Argus‘ daily index was €389.75/t ex-works yesterday, up from €384/t on 7 November.

Colin Richardson

The Polish unit of Germany’s thyssenkrupp Materials Services has further expanded its regional steel distribution in the north of the country with a new warehouse in Nowe Mazy. The new facility adds 13,500 square metres of storage space to the site, Kallanish notes. 

This is the second stage of expansion at Nowe Mazy after around 17,500 square metres was added in 2017. Together with the other regional warehouses in Blonie, Dabrowa Gornicza and Poznan, Nowe Mazy now forms a logistics network for supplying customers throughout Poland at short notice, the company claims.

In addition, tk Materials Poland has 16 sales offices in almost all parts of the country. The product portfolio includes rolled steel, quality steel and stainless steel. This year, the local unit is celebrating its 25th anniversary.  

“We are particularly pleased that we have been a reliable partner to our customers for over 25 years. The increased demands of our partners are also the reason why we continue to expand our storage and processing capacities,” says Ryszard Bojarski, company managing director in Poland.

In central and eastern Europe, some 2,000 employees work for tk Materials Services in 46 locations, in countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) stößt in der Industrie auf großes Interesse. Die Fertigung mittels lichtbogenbasiertem Lagenaufbau ermöglicht eine große Flexibilität in der Bauteilgeometrie. Insbesondere für den Prototypenbau und für Kleinserien ist WAAM wirtschaftlicher als andere additive Prozesse für Metall. Entscheidend für die Qualität der gefertigten Bauteile ist der Schweißprozess: Cold Metal Transfer von Fronius bietet hierfür die besten Voraussetzungen. 

Additive Fertigungsverfahren generieren Bauteile durch das schichtweise Ablagern von Material. Das bekannteste Beispiel ist der 3D-Druck. Auch WAAM, das auf dem Lichtbogenschweißen basiert, baut mit Hilfe einer abschmelzenden Drahtelektrode Metallteile Schicht für Schicht auf. Solche generativen Verfahren sind besonders dann vorteilhaft, wenn komplexe Bauteilgeometrien hergestellt werden müssen. Dem Design sind quasi keine Grenzen gesetzt. Außerdem können Teile in sehr kurzer Zeit wirtschaftlich gefertigt werden – vor allem für den Prototypenbau und Kleinstserien eine interessante Option. Die Bearbeitungszeit, der Werkzeugverschleiß sowie der Materialverlust beim Zerspanen – insbesondere beim herkömmlichen Herausfräsen des Werkstücks aus einem Block – bedeuten einen erheblichen Mehraufwand. 

Was ist WAAM? 

Es gibt verschiedene generative Fertigungsverfahren für Metall. Grundlegend unterschieden wird zwischen pulverbasierten und drahtbasierten Prozessen. Beim Pulververfahren wird Metallpulver aufgeschmolzen. Die gängigsten Variante, das Pulverbettverfahren, zeichnet sich durch hohe Präzision aus, ist aber langsam in der Produktion. Drahtbasierte Prozesse hingegen schmelzen einen Zusatzwerkstoff in Form von Draht ab und bauen so das Bauteil auf. Hierfür werden Laser, Elektronenstrahl oder Lichtbogen verwendet. Diese Verfahren weisen hohe Abschmelzleistungen auf und tragen so zu kurzen Fertigungszeiten bei. 

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing gehört zu den drahtbasierten Verfahren und nutzt den Metall-Schutzgas-Schweißprozess (MSG). WAAM zeichnet sich durch vielfältige Vorteile aus: Es erzielt hohe Abschmelzleistungen – bisher bei Stahlwerkstoffen bis zu vier Kilogramm in der Stunde. Mehrdrahtlösungen könnten in Zukunft noch höhere Abschmelzraten möglich machen. Auch die Anlagen- und Materialkosten sind wichtige Kriterien: WAAM setzt lediglich ein geeignetes Schweißsystem voraus. Teure Spezial-Anlagen wie etwa Vakuumkammern, die beim schnelleren Elektronenstrahl-Verfahren zum Einsatz kommen, fallen weg. 

Im Vergleich zu pulverbasierten Verfahren punktet WAAM außerdem mit der einfachen Verfügbarkeit unterschiedlicher bereits zertifizierter Drähte. Bei Pulvern ist die Materialauswahl noch gering, da entsprechende Zertifizierungen und die Erstellung von Datenblättern oft Jahre dauern und die Nutzung von Metallpulver noch relativ neu ist. 

„Kalter“ Schweißprozess für stabilen Lagenaufbau 

Für die Bauteilfertigung mit WAAM sind die Stabilität des verwendeten Schweißprozesses und die Wärmeableitung entscheidend. Der Schweißprozess muss so energiearm, also so „kalt“ wie möglich sein, damit die unteren Schichten nicht erneut aufschmelzen. Außerdem muss die geschweißte Lage durchgängig, spritzerfrei und gleichmäßig sein. Käme es zu einem Fehler, würde sich dieser in den Lagen darüber fortsetzen. 

Der MSG-Prozess CMT von Fronius sowie dessen Prozessregelvarianten erfüllen diese Ansprüche. Sie zeichnen sich durch einen stabilen Lichtbogen und einen kontrollierten Kurzschluss mit langen Kurzschlusszeiten aus. Dadurch ist der Wärmeeintrag geringer und der Werkstoffübergang ist annähernd spritzerfrei. Das hilft, Fehler zu vermeiden. 

Zwei Prozessregelvarianten von CMT eignen sich besonders gut. Dies ist zum einen die für WAAM optimierte Prozess-Charakteristik CMT additive. Sie erzielt gute Abschmelzleistungen und bringt noch weniger Wärme ins Bauteil ein. Die Variante CMT Cycle Step reduziert die Lichtbogenleistung nochmals durch gezieltes Abschalten in der Prozessphase. Der besonders „kalte“ Prozess benötigt jedoch mehr Zeit für den Lagenaufbau, da die Abschmelzrate geringer ist. 

WAAM-Anwendungen in der Praxis 

Zahlreiche WAAM-Bauteile wurden bereits in unterschiedlichen Industriezweigen mit Fronius-Schweißtechnik hergestellt: Lüfterräder etwa, wie sie in der Elektroindustrie eingesetzt werden, bestehen aus hochwertigen Materialien. Das Werkstück zu fräsen ist wegen des hohen Materialverbrauchs kostspielig und ein Guss bei dünnen Wandstärken von etwa 1,5 Millimetern meist kritisch. Mit WAAM auf Basis von CMT Cycle Step konnten solche Lüfterradschaufeln aus Nickelbasis-Legierung additiv erzeugt werden. Auch die Reparatur der Bauteile ist mit WAAM möglich. 

Eine weitere Anwendung hat Fronius mit einem Partner in der Flugzeugindustrie umgesetzt: Das dort häufig eingesetzte Titan zeichnet sich durch Zugfestigkeit, Zähigkeit, Korrosionsbeständigkeit und geringes Gewicht aus. Ein Großteil der Bauteile wird subtraktiv gefertigt, wobei bis zu 90 Prozent des Materials abgefräst werden. Das verursacht hohe Kosten, lange Bearbeitungszeiten und teuren Werkzeugverschleiß. Mit WAAM hergestellte Bauteile müssen im Gegensatz dazu nur noch nachbearbeitet werden, um glatte Oberflächen zu erhalten. Das mit CMT additive gefertigte Titan-Bauteil weist keine Bindefehler auf, und auch die metallurgischen Eigenschaften überzeugen. So lassen sich Werkzeugkosten, Bearbeitungszeit und Verschleiß reduzieren und die gesamten Bearbeitungskosten minimieren. 

WAAM: wirtschaftlich und vielfältig 

WAAM stellt also eine wirtschaftliche und vielfältig anwendbare Alternative in der Fertigung dar. Mit Fronius-Schweißtechnik kann das additive Verfahren aufgrund der CMT-Technologie einwandfrei umgesetzt werden. 

Bildtext (Vorschaufoto): Für WAAM können verschiedene Zusatzwerkstoffe verwendet werden wie etwa Stahl, Aluminium, Chrom-Nickel-Stahl oder Bronze. Bildtext (Beitragsfoto 1): Ausschlaggebend für die Qualität des mit WAAM erzeugten Bauteils sind die Stabilität des Schweißprozesses und ein geringer Wärmeeintrag – der Cold Metal Transfer MSG-Prozess von Fronius erfüllt diese Anforderungen. Bildtext (Beitragsfoto 2):  Bei Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing werden Bauteile – hier aus Titan – Schicht für Schicht aufgeschweißt und anschließend zerspanend nachbearbeitet. 

Quelle und Fotos: Fronius International GmbH

Spanish-headquartered steelmaker Celsa has announced that it has completed the installation and development of a seventh production line at its steelmaking site in Barcelona.

Thanks to the new line, the company will be able to manufacture new sizes and qualities of semi-finished products. This will enable Celsa to add grade HE600 structural sections to its product portfolio, it says.

The new equipment has been installed through an investment of some €19 million ($21m), the company explains to Kallanish. “The group expects the project to boost productivity and flexibility of the Celsa Barcelona business units in a remarkable way,” the steelmaker says.