OREANDA-NEWS. PAO Severstal, one of the world's leading vertically integrated steel and steel-related mining companies, has begun construction of a second ladle furnace at the company's flagship Cherepovets Steel Mill. The new furnace will have a capacity of 4.8 million tonnes. Launch of the construction was announced at Metal Expo 2015.

The aim of the project is to increase converter steel production to 84 meltings per day, or 10.283 million tonnes per year. Record annual converter steel production currently stands at 9.5 million tonnes.

Sergey Toropov, CEO of Severstal's Russian Steel division, said: "The estimated cost of the project is around 3 billion rubles. Increasing production capacity by building a second ladle furnace will ensure that 100% of the smelting furnace treatment takes place within one unit. This will significantly reduce costs and improve product quality. It is estimated that the project will generate cost savings of around 700 million rubles per year".

Completion of the furnace is scheduled for the end of 2017.