Primetals Technologies receives final acceptance for revamp of 1,700 mm hot strip mill at Ilyich steel in Ukraine

2020-08-29

Aug. 29, 2020 - In May, PJSC “Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol” (Ilyich Steel) issued the FAC for the revamp of its 1,700 mm hot strip mill (HSM 1700). The revamp of HSM 1700 further increases MMKI’s competitiveness through the extension of product mix and range, improvement of quality, increase of productivity and reduction of production costs. Production capacity will grow from 1.36 to 2.5 million tons per year. A state-of-the-art automation system makes the plant ready for Industry 4.0.

Primetals Technologies was responsible for the basic and detail engineering as well as for the supply of core components for the hot strip mill, encompassing the installation of a new reversing roughing mill with heavy edger, a new coilbox and the upgrade of the finishing mill. The scope included new motors and drives for the coilbox and finishing mill pinch roll descaler area as well as automation systems level 1 and level 2 for the roughing and finishing mill. The supervision of installation and commissioning of the mill was also handled by Primetals Technologies. After the successful joint implementation of the continuous casting machine Nr. 4 at MMKI, this project was the next key milestone in the long-term partnership between Metinvest and Primetals Technologies.

The revamped HSM 1700 is capable of processing larger slabs from the new Primetals Caster Nr. 4, which was commissioned in 2018, with thicknesses between 170 and 250 millimeters and produces hot strip with a width ranging from 900 to 1,600 millimeters and thickness between 1.2 and 8.0 millimeters. The maximum coil weight was increased from 15 to 27 metric tons.

Ilyich Steel is a part of the Metinvest Group and one of the largest iron and steel works in Ukraine. The company produces a wide range of flat products made of carbon, low-alloyed and alloyed steel grades for various applications. These include heavy plates for pipelines, shipbuilding, pressure vessels and the construction industry, as well as hot and cold rolled plates and coils. It is the largest producer of cold rolled galvanized sheets in Ukraine.