NLMK Group’s VIZ-Stal signs contract for transformer (grain-oriented) steel production equipment

VIZ-Stal has signed a contract for LOI (Germany) to supply and supervise the assembly of equipment for the revamping of its Electric Insulation Coating Line (EICL-8). The upgrade of the Strip Finishing Line is a major step towards setting up a process flow for mastering the production of a new product – high permeability steel; it will also improve thin-gage product surface quality and boost GO steel competitiveness in the global market.

EICL-8 will be the first line at VIZ-Stal’s Cold Rolling Shop with natural gas strip heating in place of electrical heating. It will reduce energy consumption by 30%. The line’s performance will improve significantly with yields increasing more than 1.5-fold.
The overall cost of the project is expected to be approximately RUR1.1 billion. Startup of the revamped EICL-8 is scheduled for 2013.

For reference:
VIZ-Stal LLC (an NLMK Group subsidiary) is a leading world producer of cold-rolled electrical steel and the largest producer of GO steel in Russia. In 2007 the Company launched a Technical Upgrade Program for the period till 2015. It includes 11 investment projects on construction of new lines and reconstruction of existing ones, implementation of which will renew VIZ-Stal’s equipment by 50%. The total volume of NLMK’s investment into the technical upgrade will amount to RUR 8.6 billion. This reconstruction is aimed at mastering a new prospective product type – high permeability steel – as well as at improving product quality and increasing of production efficiency.