After positive results of hot trials during the month of November 2011, Emirates Steel succeeded in rolling out the first beams declaring the start of the hot commissioning of the first Heavy Section Mill in the region at a cost of around USD 650 million.
In a statement, the steelmaker said it can now produce large size sections, beams, columns and sheet piles.
The company had launched in January 2006 a two phased expansion program worth USD 2.45 billion. Phase 1 was completed in June 2009, Phase 2Ain March 2011 and Phase 2B in December 2011. The new Heavy section Mill will be integrated with the second 1.4 million tonnes per annum steel melt shop and the associated direct reduction plant already started successfully in autumn 2010.
Constructed by Italy's Danieli, the Emirates Steel Heavy Section Mill will produce parallel flange beams, columns and bearing piles with up to 1,016 millimeter web depth and 419 flange width, up to 430 millimeter parallel flange channels, 250 millimeter angles, 750 millimeter U-sheet piles and 630 millimeter Z sheet piles using 350x220 millimeter conticast blooms and up to 1050x460x120 millimeter beam blanks as starting material.
Mr Suhail Al Ameri chairman of Emirates Steel said that "This is the latest achievement in the completion of the Expansion Program at our integrated complex in Musaffah. In support of Abu Dhabi's economic Vision 2030, our Expansion Program has been designed to give Emirates Steel a competitive advantage over its international competitors by giving it better access to local energy resources and utilizing state of the art technologies. Now that Phase 2B is complete, we will be the only producer of jumbo and heavy sections in the Middle East and North Africa region and will be able to offer drastically reduced lead times and an improved product offering in terms of piece count and cut to length services."
Emirates Steel's Phase 2A, which consists of a 1.6 million tonnes per annum direct reduction plant and a 1.4 million tonnes per annum steel making plant, has significantly increased the company's DRI capacity to 3.2 million tonnes per annum and steelmaking capacity to 2.8 million tonnes per annum. This elevated Emirates Steel into one of the largest DRI producers in the Middle East region.
Phase 2 DRP and SMP, which are twin plants of Phase 1 assets, were commissioned on schedule in March 2011, thereby significantly reducing the associated technology and construction risks and providing significant synergies to the Company in terms of the learning curve. Cold commissioning of both plants had commenced in October 2010.
