Industeel, a European business division of ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions, has started construction of a vertical caster at its site in Le Creusot, France. This will produce light slab up to 35cm in thickness, Kallanish learns from the company.
The investment of €52 million ($56m) aims at cutting energy consumption, reducing 10% of CO2 emissions annually, as well as reducing scarfing, transformation losses and rolling passes, and optimising the entire process. When the equipment is up and running, its 30,000 tonne/year initial capacity is scheduled to increase to 50,000 t/y. Several steel grades will be produced by the new caster for different industrial sectors including the clean energy and automotive components sectors.
The new vertical slab caster will be produced by Italian equipment maker Danieli. The equipment, which will replace ingot casting, will produce special grades of carbon, stainless steels and nickel-based alloy slab from 1,500-2,100mm widths, and 4 and 6 meters in length. Start-up is planned for May 2025. The Industeel caster will feature a wide selection of Danieli 3Q technological packages.
In 2017 Danieli revamped the other Industeel slab caster at the company’s Charleroi plant in Belgium (see Kallanish passim).
Natalia Capra France
