ArcelorMittal, together with joint venture partner Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metals Corp. (NSSMC), announces two important investment projects that will further enhance the capabilities of the AM/NS steel finishing facility in Calvert, Alabama. A $40m slab yard expansion project is underway to increase slab staging capacity and efficiency. An additional $6.7m will be invested in the existing number four continuous coating line.
The slab yard expansion will include the addition of overhead cranes, along with foundation work and structural steel erection, to increase the staging and storage capacity in support of achieving the full 5.3 million metric tons capacity of the hot strip mill. The mill currently consists of three bays, with the capacity to stage around 335,000 metric tons of incoming slabs, significantly less than the staging capacity required to achieve the 5.3 million metric ton target.
The improved number four continuous coating line will significantly increase ArcelorMittal’s North American capacity to produce press hardenable steels. One such steel is Usibor, a type one aluminum-silicon coated (Al-Si) high strength steel. AM/NS Calvert will also be capable of producing Ductibor, an energy-absorbing high strength steel grade designed specifically to complement Usibor and offer ductility benefits to customers.
The modifications are expected to be complete by the end of the year and the first coil is targeted for production in January 2015. The aluminum-silicon coated steels provide high-temperature corrosion resistance ideally suited for heat exchangers, hot stamping, and exhaust parts for the automotive, HVAC and aftermarket exhaust, and tubing markets.
Currently, ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor is the only ArcelorMittal facility in the western hemisphere producing Usibor and Ductibor.
Number four continuous coating line currently operates two coating pots: one to produce galvanized steel, or zinc-coated steel which helps resist corrosion; and the second to produce galvalume steel, steel coated with both aluminum and zinc to improve weather resistance. Modifications made to an existing third pot include a welder, snout articulation and pumps, pot refractory and equipment, drossing robot and coating knife and will allow AM/NS Calvert to produce aluminum-coated conventional and press hardenable steels such as Usibor® and Ductibor®.
