OREANDA-NEWS. October 31, 2011. On October 21st Interpipe announced that it has started cold tests, in cooperation with general contractor DANIELI, at the new electric steel melting complex, Interpipe Steel. Interpipe Steel is the first metallurgical plant to be built in Ukraine in the last 40 years. The first testing stage of the new mill will last until the end of November, 2011.

The construction of Interpipe Steel is a major investment project for Ukraine. The total sum of investment is USD USD 700 million. Interpipe Steel will be more technologically advanced, energy efficient and environmentally friendly than the current open-hearth mills.

Alexandr Kirichko, General Director of Interpipe said “The beginning of these cold tests demonstrates that we have made another step towards the realization of a large-scale project. For our company it is a new step in the testing of equipment, for the country – it is a principally new method of metallurgical production. Each step in the realization of Interpipe Steel is innovative – from the construction of the unique electric cable line to the operation of complex technological equipment that have no analogues in Ukraine. Interpipe is not just building a new plant for the production of steel billets; the company is creating standards for a new production culture.”

Cold tests provide stage-by-stage checks of all the sites, equipment and mechanisms of the mill in ‘idle’ operation. The main task of each stage is to test the readiness of main and supplementary equipment, infrastructure objects (electric, water and pipeline systems) as well as the technological preparedness. The final stage of the cold tests will be the work checks for the arc furnace. 

Gennadiy Esaulov, Director of Interpipe Steel commented: “We are completely ready for the first tests of the new mill. We have hired and trained personnel, who will be involved in the testing stage. The team assigned to this project is young, ambitious and fully dedicated. The average age of the employees is thirty three, sixty percent of whom have higher education degrees. Our employees have to pass multiple levels of training, which include an internship at metallurgical companies in Ukraine, the CIS and Europe.”

Interpipe Steel is currently 90% complete. Construction of the main building in the complex, scrap yard, ferroally and particulate materials plant, as well as the installation of the continuous casting machines have all been completed. The tests of the electric supplies are complete, and the construction of the scrap yard, electric arc furnace, laddle furnace and vacuum degasser are almost ready.

The phase of cold tests will be complete by the end of November 2011, and will be followed  by hot tests. Exploitation tests of Interpipe Steel are planned for the first quarter of 2012.