Lindberg/MPH shipped a gas-fired aluminum stack melting and holding furnace to a company in the secondary smelting industry. The furnace, which has a melt rate of 4,500 pounds per hour, will be utilized to produce aluminum ingot and sows. It is designed with access grating and a ladder for safe access to roof-mounted equipment during maintenance. A three-point laser metal-level sensor is provided that notifies operators of the current furnace metal level through an attached light tree.

United States Steel Corp. plans to reduce greenhouse-gas-emissions intensity across its global footprint by 20%, as measured by the rate of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalents emitted per ton of finished steel shipped, by 2030 based on 2018 baseline levels. This target will apply to U.S. Steel’s global operations. The company plans to achieve this goal through multiple initiatives, including the development of electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking at its Fairfield Works and at Big River Steel, in which U.S. Steel recently acquired a minority interest with an option to acquire the remainder over the next four years. 

Gardner Aerospace, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of aircraft parts and sub-assemblies, invested in a high-pressure fluid-cell press from Sweden’s Quintus Technologies. Gardner recently opened a 45,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China, that will support China’s rapidly developing domestic market for aerospace parts. The 800-bar (11,600-psi) press has a forming area of 700 mm x 1,800 mm (27.6 x 73 inches). Gardner purchased a high-pressure fluid-cell press from Quintus in 2015. It has a central position at the company’s facility in southern France, where it has generated significant cost savings and eliminated several forming operations.

Andritz received an order from Steel Dynamics Inc. for the supply of key process equipment for the existing continuous galvanizing line (CGL) at its Columbus, Miss., plant. The scope of supply includes engineering and delivery of a new direct-fired furnace, differential rapid jet cooling and after pot coolers. The project will be implemented during the fourth quarter of 2020. Andritz will also supply the model-predictive advanced furnace control for the complete furnace sections as well as the automation and electrical equipment.

Danieli has been selected to supply equipment for Nucor’s new greenfield plate steel mill in Brandenburg, Ky. Danieli will supply an electric-arc furnace (EAF) melt shop and plate/steckel mill, as well as an electrical and automation package provided by Danieli Automation. The EAF will be equipped with all modern mechatronic devices to improve its performance and safety. Danieli will also supply secondary metallurgy equipment, including a twin-station LMF and a twin-station VTD equipped with mechanical pumps. Both units will include with the latest automation and process models to ensure precise chemistry and temperature control.

Andritz received an order from North Star BlueScope Steel for supply of a tunnel furnace and two shuttle furnaces to convey the slabs from both casters to the two-stand roughing mill at its Delta, Ohio, plant. The shuttle furnaces will be installed during the fourth quarter of 2020, and the tunnel furnace is scheduled to start production by the end of 2021. This order is part of an expansion project by North Star BlueScope that will also add a third electric-arc furnace (EAF) and a second continuous caster. The expansion will increase the facility’s annual capacity by 800,000 to 900,000 metric tons.

Pyrotek Inc. is scheduled to complete construction of a new manufacturing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in November to serve and supply the rapidly growing aluminum smelting operations of the region. The first phase of construction will provide 66,000 square feet of floor space, and there is enough land at the site to allow for an eventual doubling of the plant footprint. Spokane, Wash.-based Pyrotek is scheduled to occupy the facility in January 2020.

Hertwich Engineering received an order from Exlabesa, an independent extruder based in Europe, for a multi-chamber melting furnace that will increase the capacity of its casthouse in Padrón (Spain) to 60,000 tons per year. The furnace, which has a capacity of 130 tons per day, will be designed to process a relatively wide range of scrap. To remelt the loose and moderately contaminated scrap, an Ecomelt-PR furnace with preheat ramp, melting chamber and main chamber will be installed. Commissioning of the furnace is scheduled for mid-2020.

Liberty Steel USA will invest up to $25 million in its liquid steel production facilities at Georgetown, S.C., to substantially boost output and secure the long-term future of the mill, which reopened just over a year ago. The company will install a modern electric-arc furnace (EAF) and extensively improve the infrastructure of the facility’s melt shop to increase wire-rod output to over 400,000 tons a year. Liberty Steel has already increased the versatility of its rolling mill at Georgetown in an effort to serve key markets for wire rod in the southeastern U.S.

Novelis Inc. announced that the European Commission has approved its proposed acquisition of Aleris Corp. The approval is conditioned upon the sale of Aleris' plant in Duffel, Belgium, which produces aluminum for the automotive and specialties markets. Novelis is working to market the plant to potential buyers. With this conditional approval in the European Union, as well as a clear path forward for approval in the U.S., the Atlanta-based company continues to work closely with the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) to receive its approval. According to Novelis, the transaction will strengthen its ability to compete against steel in the automotive market, meet growing customer demand for aluminum and achieve its recycling goals.