The OMC halts the last open-hearth furnace at Chusovoy metallurgical plant

Chusovskoy metallurgical plant, located in the Urals and part of United metallurgical company (OMK), has pulled out of its last open-hearth furnace №5, the representative of the OMC to the Agency "Platts" on Wednesday.
Until mid-2013 in Chusovoy, there were two open-hearth furnaces №5 and №6 — designed jointly by the maximum production of 600,000 metric tons of products per year. Open-hearth furnace №6 is stopped in July 2013, and since then the plant functioned only one to its open-hearth furnace closing on March 31 of this year, said the representative.
Last year, the Chusovoy metallurgical works produced 135 thousand metric tons of crude steel, and all she's been through open-hearth furnace, and 108,000 metric tons of rolled products, more than half (58 thousand metric tons) was spring steel. This year, left without its own steelmaking capacity, the plant will laminating only billet, made by other companies, and plans to produce 90 thousand metric tons of finished products, including more than 60 thousand metric tons of steel leaf sheets.
OMK has decided to stop open-hearth furnace at the Chusovoi, to make room for the new smelter and change the situation for loss in 2008 the plant for the better. Now the production of own steel Chusovoi will be suspended until 2017, when it is scheduled to run an electric arc furnace with capacity of 0.9 million metric tons per year and to transform the plant into an integrated plant for production of pipes and steel.
As reported, this project of the conversion of the plant, worth 50 billion. rubles ($1.4 million) will allow Chusovoy metallurgical works to include in the list of manufactured products-billets for pipes, wheels and seamless tubulars oil country tubular goods and will provide an opportunity for reconstruction of the rolling mill for the production of 370 mm spring sheets with a capacity of 185 thousand metric tons per year.
The result of this modernization of Chusovoy metallurgical plant will create additional 1,000 jobs and will reduce the amount of harmful emissions into air and water.