Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) has contracted Primetals Technologies to modernise its continuous slab caster no. 3 at its 2.3Mt/yr Shanghai steelworks no. 1.

The plan is to replace the machine head and the complete strand-guiding system with a view to modernizing the plant and producing high-quality slabs for demanding applications.

According to Primetals, thee modernisation will increase the maximum slab thickness to 357 mm. Once cast, the slabs are further processed in Baosteel's plate rolling mill and hot rolling mill. The modernised casting plant is scheduled to come into operation in Q1 2018.

Continuous slab caster no. 3 has been producing slabs with a minimum thickness of 220 mm since 2003. It has a machine radius of 10 metres and a metallurgical length of 34.5 metres. Once modernised, it will be able to cast slabs in thicknesses of 250, 300 and 357 mm in widths ranging from 1200 to 2300 mm. The range of products includes extremely low to high-carbon steels, micro and low-alloyed, peritectic and HSLA grades, structural steels, pipes and sheet steels.

Baosteel Group produced around 35 million metric tons of steel in 2015. The company produces products for the domestic and world markets.