OREANDA-NEWS.  February 20, 2012. Severstal (“Severstal” or the “Company”),  one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and steel related mining companies, announces that its Cherepovets Steel Mill, part of the Severstal Russian Steel Division and one of the world's largest standalone integrated steelworks by capacity, has completed  an upgrade of one of the principal units comprising blast furnace No.5, its air heater.

With air heater No.4 upgraded in the amount of 736 million rubles (USD 24,5 million), it will be possible to increase the operating efficiency of Europe’s largest blast furnace.

Upgrade operations started 18 months ago. Over this period of time, the old unit that had been in use for 24 years, was fully dismantled and replaced with a new one.

Andrei Lutsenko, chief engineer of the Severstal Russian Steel Division commented: “Severstal regularly renovates its production facilities, investing in their maintenance and development”.

“Severstal keeps investing in the renovation of its equipment. The blast-furnace practice features renewal of fixed production assets, upgrade of air heater No.4 being part of this process. Two more air heaters of blast furnace No.5 are to be upgraded shortly”.

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Upgrade of production facilities at the Cherepovets Steel Mill in 2011

In 2011, Severstal put on stream the second metal color coating line (USD 78.1 million), a shredded scrap production complex (USD 56.6 million), and undertook a program for repairs and maintenance of units of Division Severstal Russian Steel (USD 550 million). Besides, the construction of its long products mini-mill in Balakovo, Saratov Region, is still in the pipeline as planned. Severstal has already allocated USD 350 million to this project, with total investments adding up to some USD 700 million. The mill is slated to go on stream in 2Q 2013.