Germany-based plantmaker SMS Group has announced that it will rebuild the two-strand bow-type slab caster No. 1 of Luxembourg-headquartered global steel giant ArcelorMittal’s subsidiary ArcelorMittal Avilés in Spain. SMS Group will also revamp the slab caster No. 2 in a second phase.
SMS Group stated that it will rebuild the complete plant, from the mold down to the exit, into a vertical bending machine. The metallurgical length of the caster No. 1 will be increased from 34 meters to 38 meters, the casting speed to 1.95 meters per minute. The new No. 1 caster will be designed to produce slabs 235 millimeters thick and between 800 millimeters and 1,600 millimeters wide. The two-strand continuous caster No. 2 will be revamped in the same way as caster No. 1. In order to meet the growing requirements of the market, the primary goal of this project is to improve the quality of the produced slabs. At the same time, the production capacity of the two casters will be increased in order to be prepared for future requirements.