Saarstahl to open new billet caster by year-end

Long products maker Saarstahl will be opening its new five-strand continuous casting plant at the Voelklingen site by the end of 2019, the Germany-based company said Wednesday.

The Eur100 million caster will replace one that was decommissioned in 2010.

Saarstahl operates a total of four continuous casting systems in the steel plant that casts crude steel into billets.

The new caster will not increase production volumes at the site, but enable Saarstahl to apply mechanical soft reduction in casting formats for the production of spring steel, cold-heading wire and free-cutting steel used in the automotive industry and in mechanical engineering.

Saarstahl mainly serves the German market and has been trying to move more into the higher quality range of long products.

— Laura Varriale