SIDENOR S.A. Group of companies announces the agreement with Italian steel equipment supplier DANIELI S.p.A., for the supply of a new state of the art rolling mill for long products (Micro Mill).
The new ''Micro Mill'', with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons, will be installed at SOVEL plant in Volos and will begin operation early 2009. With this investment, the annual SOVEL capacity in long products will increase from 900,000 tons to 1,200,000 tons.
This investment is a technological evolution in the steel industry. For the fist time worldwide, rebars will be produced directly from the continuous casting machine, without using a reheating furnace, by applying the endless/casting/rolling process. This is achieved due to the new Fast Cast Cube technology, in combination with the latest applications in the cutting and bundling technology for the production of final products (high-speed cutting, double twin rotating channel etc.).
At the same time, energy consumption per ton is substantially decreased (as it eliminates the use of natural gas) and the yield is increased. The new unit is environmentally friendly as it has no gas emissions. Total capital expenditure (equipment, installation and commissioning) for the new mill will amount to about Euro 40m.
This investment is feasible due to the previous installation of the ''Consteel'' continuous scrap feeding system, which was successfully commissioned in August 2007, and resulted in an increase of the produced liquid steel, which is needed for the operation of the ''Micro Mill''. It is worth mentioning that the ''Consteel'' feeding method also constitutes a technological breakthrough, and (in addition to the productivity increase and the cost reduction) it is environmentally friendly as it minimizes the energy required per ton of steel.
With the completion of this investment, SOVEL plant will be one of the most modern mini mills worldwide and along with its port facility, will strengthen SIDENOR Group's position in the Greek and international markets.