Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. reported that a liquid metal spill occurred during operations at its electric-arc melting facility in Bridgeville, Pa., on Monday, April 11. The spill was caused by a breakthrough at the bottom of a furnace shell. No injuries resulted from the spill. Cleanup and damage assessment are underway, and the company expects melting operations to resume in 6-8 weeks subject to parts and contractor availability. All other operations continue to function as normal. The company does not expect any near-term interruption to product delivery schedules.

Sheffield Forgemasters announced a breakthrough in the industrialization of electron-beam welding (EBW) for thick-section materials. Using EBW, the company weld-joined two 200-mm-thick (8-inch-thick), 3-meter-diameter (9-foot-diameter) forged vessel sections of nuclear-grade steel. The weld, equivalent to approximately 10 meters (32 feet) in length, was completed in a single pass and in a dramatically short timeframe. The weld was completed in 140 minutes with no reportable defects shown in preliminary nondestructive testing (NDT). A weld of this kind would typically take months and include numerous stages of NDT and heat treatment, according to U.K.-based Sheffield Forgemasters.

Nucor Corp. will build a new rebar micro-mill with an annual capacity of 430,000 tons in Lexington, N.C. This will be the company's third rebar micro-mill, joining existing Nucor micro-mills in Missouri and Florida. Expected to cost approximately $350 million, the mill will employ approximately 200 full-time teammates when operational and create an additional 500 temporary jobs during construction, which is expected to take two years. Nucor Steel Lexington will produce steel with nearly 100% recycled content, according to the company.

In a typical multi-burner furnace with numerous temperature measurement points, the change in a single burner’s firing rate can alter the thermal profile inside the furnace in a nonlinear fashion.

IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. launched copper-alloy casting at its new and expanded copper-alloy foundry facility in Franklin, Ind. The launch of production at the new facility marks the completion of a two-year consolidation of three production facilities into a single vertically integrated manufacturing operation dedicated to producing copper and copper-alloy products. IBC invested approximately $6 million to expand and modernize its Franklin facility and consolidate its former Missouri and Pennsylvania foundries to the new plant. The consolidation is expected to generate efficiencies and production cost savings for the Copper Alloys Division and enable the division to expand production.

Nucor awarded Germany’s SMS group a contract for a complete melt shop for its facility to be built in Mason County, W.V. SMS will supply two 190-metric-ton direct-current electric-arc furnaces (DC EAF), two twin-ladle furnaces and two vacuum degassers. The mechanical supply includes several safety-related auxiliaries, the proprietary SMS bottom anode system, two vacuum pumping systems and an equipment layout designed to minimize crane movements. All equipment will be supplied “digital-ready” for incorporation into a data-driven system. The facility will enable Nucor to expand its portfolio in the automotive market. Project completion is scheduled for 2024, with hot commissioning beginning in the second half of 2024.

A high-pressure fluid cell press from Quintus Technologies will boost efficiencies and lower production costs for Thailand’s Jinpao Precision Industry, a manufacturer of structural sheet metal and machined parts. The Flexform press will be used for forming aerospace parts for airplanes and helicopters. It has a work area measuring 27.6 x 73 inches (700 mm x 1,800 mm), which can accommodate 90% of the forming parts requested by Jinpao’s customers. Operating at a forming pressure of 1,400 bar (20,000 psi), the fluid cell press is suited to applications requiring close-tolerance parts with little or no need for secondary hand work.

ArcelorMittal will invest more than $330 million, with the support of the French government, to create a new production unit for electrical steels at its Mardyck site in the north of France. This investment will create more than 100 direct jobs. The unit specialize in the production of electrical steels for the engines of electric and hybrid vehicles. These steels, which are used in engines in the form of stacks of very thin layers (0.2-0.35 mm), are characterized by their magnetic and mechanical properties: high polarization to maximize engine performance, low losses to promote vehicle autonomy and high yield strength to support engine rotation.

Celsa Group, a manufacturer of steel long products, fired an ultra-low-emission reheating furnace for new wire-rod rolling mill in the Celsa France complex. The reheating furnace, built and supplied by Fives, has a capacity of 120 metric tons per hour and is designed to charge hot billets of different sections and lengths directly from the caster at 1472°F (800°C). The final products, wire rods and bars, will serve the region’s construction market. The furnace includes complete digital on/off control and heat curve control for optimum combustion with the billet discharge surface temperature at 2138°F (1170°C).

Salzgitter AG and Tenova signed a memorandum of understanding for the realization of SALCOS (SALzgitter low-CO₂ Steelmaking). Salzgitter intends to order a DRI plant from Tenova with an annual capacity of 2.1 million tons for the future industrial production of directly reduced sponge iron. The plant will be based on Energiron technology, which was jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli. The companies plan to start construction work on the first stage of SALCOS as early as this summer.