Electric steelmaking and casting technology supplier SMS Concast is supplying long-steel producer El Marakby Steel, in Giza, Egypt, with its first electric-arc furnace, which is scheduled to be commissioned at the end of this year.

With a capacity of 350 000 t/y, the new furnace broadens El Marakby’s portfolio and strengthens the company’s competitive position, says SMS Concast. The new meltshop will be used to feed El Marakby’s 130 mm2 billets rebar mill, which has a capacity of 240 000 t/y.

Excess billet output will be sold on the open market, points out El Marakby.

The huge lack of power supply in Egypt challenges the production of billets, says SMS Concast. However, the electric-arc furnace from SMS Concast offers recovery technology that complies with the most stringent environmental regulations and contributes towards resource efficiency in steel production, the company notes.

“We have had a political revolution, so it’s normal to have problems afterwards. To survive, skin-pass mills need to be integrated to create more added value. “With SMS Concast, we have found a true partner to develop our business,” says El Marakby Steel deputy CEO Hassan El Marakby.

SMS Concast says scrap from the US and Europe will be used in the new furnace and it will also be possible to load the furnace with up to 20% of scrap substitute.

Meanwhile, steel producer Tata Steel Speciality Steels UK has chosen German plantmaker SMS Mevac to design a X-eed vacuum induction melting (VIM) furnace for its Stocksbridge site.

The facility will produce high-purity steels and specialist alloys for the aerospace industry, a sector in which Tata Steel is already an established supplier.

The project is currently in the design phase and is intended to go into production in 2014, pending final capital approval, says SMS Mevac.

“The potential addition of a VIM furnace to our asset base for aerospace steel production is an exciting prospect. “This initiative is fully aligned with our busi- ness strategy, which focuses on high added- value products for markets with a truly global reach. “We are pleased to be collaborating with the SMS group, which has the stature and expertise to bring this development to a successful conclusion,” says Tata Steel Speciality Steels MD Mark Broxholme.

SMS Mevac has expanded its portfolio to include tertiary metallurgy and/or special steels using its extensive plant engineering know-how, which has been acquired over more than 40 years as a plant builder.

This strategic move into tertiary metallurgy currently incorporates three key melting and remelting technologies, namely VIM units, vacuum arc melting and electroslag remelting units.

This new product area is supported by in-house experts with more than 20 years of experience at market leading specialist steelmakers, says SMS Mevac, which notes that this know-how, combined with the company’s reputation for delivering high-performing equipment, will create facilities to meet both current and future market requirements.

“This extensive knowledge of speciality steelmaking and super alloys will be applied to the design of the Stockbridge VIM unit with integrated vacuum pouring. Designing from the standpoint of a producer means that reliability and maintenance are at the heart of the design. This will result in a reliable unit with consistently high availability and performance,” says SMS Mevac tertiary metallurgy deputy GM Cihangir Demirci.

The VIM unit for Tata comprises an 8 t vacuum induction melting crucible together with the associated vacuum pumping, material charging and process control equipment.

All core components to be delivered by SMS Mevac will be designed to allow Tata to increase the melt size of the furnace to 18 t at a later date.

Ancillary equipment for crucible preheating and lining maintenance is also provided.

The unit incorporates vacuum ingot pouring for both top-poured and bottom-poured ingots, in single or multiple ingot configurations.

The ingots will be further refined at Tata’s VAR facilities before being rolled or forged into products for the aerospace market.

“SMS Mevac is honoured to be the chosen supplier for the VIM X-eed unit for Tata’s Stocksbridge site. “We will cooperate closely with the steel producer’s experts to design a plant which will satisfy the requirements of this demanding, high-end market,” says SMS Mevac MD Michael Thiehofe.