New Capacity Roundup - August 2021
Here is a selection of the major steelmakers' latest production and capacity investments announced this month.
Europe
Salzgitter plans to restart blast furnace C, the smallest of the furnaces at its Flachstahl unit, in November. The company made the announcement during its half-year earnings presentation. It cited the strong financial performance in the first six months of 2021, and expectations of continuing supply shortages, as reason for the decision. The furnace was idled in 2019, due to low market demand. It has an annual crude steel capacity of 600,000 tonnes. Once lit, it is expected to raise the plant’s total output to over five million tonnes, per year.
North America
ArcelorMittal has announced its intention to decarbonise production at its Hamilton, Ontario facility. This involves replacing the blast furnaces currently operating at the site with a 2 million tonnes per year capacity DRI plant and EAFs with an annual output of 2.4 million tonnes. ArcelorMittal has earmarked C$1.765 billion for this project, which includes a C$400 million investment from the Canadian government. The aim is to reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions by sixty percent over the course of the next seven years.
Evraz North America has broken ground on a new premium rail mill at its Rocky Mountain Steel long product facility in Pueblo, Colorado. The line will have a nominal annual production capacity of 670,000 short tons of rail sections, each measuring up to 100 metres in length. Commissioning is expected around the end of 2022.
Asia
India’s Jindal Stainless has announced its intention to double output at its Jajpur facility, in Odisha. The company will achieve this by installing a new AOD converter, ladle furnace and continuous caster at the site. This new equipment will raise the plant’s annual production capacity to 2.2 million tonnes. Commissioning is expected in late 2022.
In October, Jin’an Stainless Casting Company, will start work on the installation of a new 70-tonne EAF and ladle furnace at its facility in Anhui Province. The equipment is scheduled to enter service in approximately twelve months. The project forms part of the company’s capacity replacement programme. Overall output will remain at 500,000 tonnes per year.
