OREANDA-NEWS. Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) announces the installation and commissioning of a new shearing press in the electric arc furnace shop at its Romanian steel plant Mechel Targoviste in compliance with its technical re-equipment plan.

According to the press service of Mechel, the work has been completed in line with the current stage of Mechel Targoviste production facilities modernization program designed for the period of 2007-2011.

The shearing press is designed to process oversized metal scrap and provide steel melting works with high quality charge. This is the second shearing press installed at the plant, with the first put into operation in 2004.

The new shearing press is a modern, fully automated unit, and is completely analogous to the current operating equipment in terms of its technical characteristics. Depending on the metal used for reprocessing, its production capacity ranges from 15 to 22 tonnes per hour with a cutting force of 700 tonnes.

The manufacturer of the equipment, SIERRA of Italy, is among the global market leaders in manufacturing these units. The project cost is about EUR 1.0 million and the payback period of the new equipment is about five months.

With the new continuous caster put into operation this year and modernization of the mills, which lead to the blooming closure, the commissioning of the second shearing press will allow the plant to increase metal scrap density with a concurrent reduction of scrap returns.

During the EAF No. 2 modernization at Mechel Targoviste in 2006, annual productivity was increased to 500 thousand tonnes. The Company plans to significantly reduce per-tonne fixed costs with a complex of technical measures aimed at further modernization of EAF No. 2, including modernization of the transformer and a change of the furnace’s operating charging baskets and steel teeming ladles, and to reach annual capacity of 600 thousand tonnes in 2008.

Due to the plant’s two-year experience in operating the first unit, it has high-class specialists and trained personnel capable to operate the new equipment, and eliminates the additional costs that would typically be necessary to train employees.