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EAF Steelmaking
NLMK USA Sets New Records in Production and Quality
Feb. 7, 2012 NLMK’s plant at NLMK Indiana has ended 2011 setting 10 new production records, including the production of a new annual tonnage record for the meltshop of 672,756 cast tons with an average tap-to-tap time of 71.31 minutes, an improvement of +1.6% compared to 2010’s tonnage record. Capacities were running at over 90%.
In the Hot Strip Mill, the facility broke the monthly record for throughput four times in 2011, including a throughput rate of 176.7 tons/hour in November 2011. A record 644,300 tons were produced on the hot strip mill, an improvement of +2% versus the best production of 630,420 tons set in 2010. In 2011, the hot strip mill also processed 11% High Carbon grades, which is also a new high level of production for these grades.
The company maintained high performance rates through early 2012, beginning with a new monthly tonnage record of 73,050 cast tons in January 2012, an increase of +4% versus the previous best of 69,988 tons set in May 2011.
Several other NLMK USA companies also set production records in 2011, including the Specialty Strip area at NLMK Pennsylvania, which produced 2011 annual tonnage of 88,042 tons, a volume record for the second straight year and a +9% increase compared to 2010’s record. The facility also set a tons-per-turn record by averaging 168 tons per turn, beating the previous record of 159 tons-per-turn set in 2009. The company’s Tandem Mill also set a new all-time best of 0.78% for diverted tons, beating a long-standing record from 2003 by 0.01%.
Two galvanizing lines at the company’s Sharon Coating also set productivity records in 2011, including a new run rate record of 128.2 average tons per turn on Line 1, vs. the previous record of 127.2 tons per turn set in 2008. In addition, the facility’s Line 3 also had a record year with a rate of 507.4 tons per turn, well over the old best set in 2008 of 491.2 tons per turn.
Located in Portage, Ind., NLMK Indiana is a steel mini-mill specializing in the production and sales of hot rolled coils to service centers and pipe and tube manufacturers. The company operates a 0.7 mtpy Electric Arc Furnace meltshop and a 0.9 mtpy hot strip mill with a headcount of about 350 employees. NLMK Indiana’s production facilities are strategically located in the Midwest, close to its main consumers, with up to 40% of US scrap collected in the region. Close proximity to suppliers of main raw materials and clients allows the company to optimize its transportation costs.