In order to improve production efficiency, enhance environmental performance and expand product variety, European steel mills implemented a large number of modernization renovation projects in 2024. The relevant investments were mainly used for the upgrading of upstream and downstream facilities.
1. Upgrading and Renovation of Coking and Iron-making Facilities
In April, ArcelorMittal Spain upgraded its sintering plant at the Asturias steel mill in Gijón to reduce negative environmental impacts. In this project, a new bag dust collector, dust collection system and suction hood were equipped for a cooler of Sintering Plant A with an annual production capacity of 2.7 million tons.
In August, Czech Trinecke Zelezarny Steel Company completed a project to equip its Trinec plant with a new filtration system, which is in line with the company's previously announced strategy of improving product quality, reducing energy consumption and emissions, and increasing metallurgical gas treatment volume. The company installed a dust collector for its No.1 Sintering Plant, ensuring that at least 30 tons of dust are captured annually.
In May, Tata Steel Netherlands upgraded its coking facilities in IJmuiden to improve production efficiency, equipment availability and sustainability. In this project, a new desulfurization tower was equipped for Coke Oven No.2.
In January, Germany's Salzgitter completed the upgrading and renovation of Blast Furnace A at the Flachstahl plant. After the renovation, this blast furnace with an annual production capacity of 2 million tons was comprehensively upgraded, improving its environmental impact. The company completely replaced the refractory lining of Blast Furnace A and upgraded the process flow and control system. In June, Salzgitter continued to renovate Blast Furnace A and equipped it with a new bell-less top charging system provided by Paul Wurth Group, providing better maintenance options for the blast furnace.
In December, Serbia's HBIS Group Serbia implemented an environmental protection project, including equipping the blast furnace with an annual production capacity of 2.1 million tons with a coke-saving solution. Due to the optimization of raw material procurement, improvement of material-saving measures and control of process parameters, the coke consumption of the blast furnace was reduced and the production efficiency was improved.
2. Upgrading and Renovation of Steel-making Facilities
In January, Greece's Sovel upgraded its steel-making equipment at the Almyros plant. A Motank system for cleaning the slag door was equipped for this 130-ton (annual production capacity: 1.35 million tons) electric arc furnace, aiming to reduce the risk of worker injury and reduce power outage time.
In April, Poland's Cognor upgraded the electric arc furnace at the HSJ plant in Skopje, Stalowa Wola. A Q-ONE technology was adopted for this 50-ton (annual production capacity: 200,000 tons) electric arc furnace and the original electric arc furnace transformer was replaced. This investment reduced costs and improved production efficiency.
In July, Germany's Dillinger Steel Company replaced the original converter with a new 200-ton converter at the Duisburg plant, thus achieving long-term safe and high-performance steel-making operations.
In October, the Ferriere Nord steel mill of Italy's Pittini Group at Ospedo installed an innovative multi-fuel burner for its electric arc furnace. This device is designed to efficiently use a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen (with a maximum hydrogen proportion of 100%), and is a new solution in the steel industry. This technology aims to promote a complete transition from fossil fuels to hydrogen, helping to achieve a more sustainable steel production process, in line with the industry's goals of reducing environmental impact and promoting innovation.
In December, ABS of Italy's Danieli Group completed the upgrading and renovation project of the electric arc furnace at its Sisak plant in Croatia. A new EBT-SAND tapping hole detection and sand filling device was successfully equipped for this 67-ton electric arc furnace. This project focuses on improving the accuracy and automation level of the process, as well as the reliability and production efficiency of the electric arc furnace.
3. Upgrading and Renovation of Continuous Casting Facilities
In February, Slovakia's Zeleziarne Podbrezova upgraded the cooling chamber of the billet continuous caster at the Podbrezova plant by completely replacing the structure of the existing carbon steel cooling chamber with a new stainless steel structure, extending the operating cycle of this device.
In April, Switzerland's Duferco upgraded the slab continuous caster at the Makstil plant in Skopje, Macedonia, to achieve fully automatic casting operations. This project aims to improve the automation level and flexibility of the production process and enhance personnel safety.
In September, Italy's Feralpi Group upgraded its six-strand billet continuous caster at the Lonato del Garda plant. This continuous caster with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons was equipped with new fast-changing tundish technology, which can significantly shorten the time for changing casting devices. In addition, the continuous caster was also equipped with a new retractable vibrating device, thereby improving production efficiency.
4. Upgrading and Renovation of Plate Rolling Equipment
In January, ArcelorMittal France upgraded the equipment at the St.-Chely d’Apcher plant. In this project, a new rotary shear was equipped in the export area of the cold rolling mill with an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons. This measure improved product quality and increased the production efficiency of the production line.
In January, Germany's ThyssenKrupp implemented a new phase of transformation of the hot continuous rolling mill at the Hoesch Hohenlimburg plant in Hagen, installing Tenova-Loy's HPH precision strip heat treatment technology.
In February, Dillinger Steel Company expanded its product range. Its medium-thick plate mill with an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tons was equipped with "D-PURE+" technology, which can produce plates of different steel grades with lower carbon dioxide emissions.
In June, Tata Steel Netherlands installed a test device for the hot continuous rolling mill at its IJmuiden plant, which can quickly test the properties of steel and test and certify each coil of steel. The introduction of this technology has consolidated the company's position in the market for thicker, stronger and more wear-resistant steels, while shortening the development cycle of new steels and the time it takes for steels to be delivered to customers.
In September, ArcelorMittal Germany upgraded the automation system of the hot continuous rolling mill at the Eisenhüttenstadt plant, focusing on improving the production efficiency, reliability and availability of the rolling mill.
In September, Russia's NLMK Group's Dansteel in Denmark upgraded the Frederiksvaerk plant to continuously improve product quality. This project includes equipping a medium-thick plate mill with an annual production capacity of 720,000 tons with 56 MAC pulse valves. These valves increase the normal operating time of the equipment and extend the service life of the filter bags.
In September, NLMK Group's Clabecq in Belgium upgraded its medium-thick plate mill at the Charleroi plant to improve product quality. The steelmaker equipped this device with an annual production capacity of 750,000 tons with InThinity technology, which can achieve high-precision control in the production of plates with a thickness of up to 15mm.
5. Upgrading and Renovation of Galvanizing Equipment
In January, NLMK Group France completed the upgrading and renovation of the hot-dip galvanizing production line at its Strasbourg plant. A new predictive furnace control solution using Virtuo-L technology was equipped for this device with an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons, improving product quality and equipment production efficiency and preventing human errors.
In August, ThyssenKrupp upgraded the galvanizing equipment at the Kreuztal-Eichen plant and equipped the No.5 hot-dip galvanizing production line with technical solutions aimed at improving process efficiency, saving resources and improving product quality. In December, the company upgraded the walking beam reheating furnace at the Duisburg-Brukhausen plant to improve the quality of silicon steel.
6. Upgrading and Renovation of Long Product Rolling Equipment
In February, Italy's AFV Beltrame, a manufacturer of rebar and special steel, completed the upgrading and renovation of the rolling equipment at its Stahl Gerlafingen plant in Switzerland. A new pinch roll and high-speed coiler were equipped for this wire rod mill with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons, so as to make full use of the heating furnace and shorten the total length of steel coils for easy transportation.
In April, Voestalpine Group completed the upgrading and renovation of its wire rod mill and produced the first batch of high-quality green wire rods at its Donawitz plant.
In April, Poland's Cognor upgraded its long product rolling equipment at Krakow. This rolling mill with an annual production capacity of 375,000 tons at the Ferrostal Rabetty plant was equipped with a new heating furnace to improve efficiency and productivity.
In September, Spain's Celsa Group upgraded the long product mill at the Armeringsstal plant in Mo i Rana, Norway, to improve production efficiency. In this project, four G1 finishing mill stands of this wire rod mill with an annual production capacity of 550,000 tons were replaced with the latest generation RedRing series five-stand mill. The new stands can reuse the existing rollers and related roll changing devices in the workshop. Similarly, the new connecting rods are compatible with the existing rolling guide devices.
Sinosteel Stainless Steel Pipe is the Manufacturer and Supplier of Stainless Steel Pipe and Special Alloy Pipe, Steel pipes with an outer diameter from 8mm to 3600mm, with wall thicknesses from 0.2mm to 120mm. Factory covering an area of 333,000 square meters. Production capacity reaches 200,000 tons.