A new growth strategy has been devised for the West Siberian Metallurgical Combine. The cornerstone of the plan is the reconstruction of the combine's steelmaking facilities, which will involve a complete changeover to continuous casting. Oxygen-converter shop No. 2 is the first shop to be rebuilt. In October 2002, the shop added a continuous section caster with a nominal capacity of 1.2-1.4 million tons of continuous-cast semifinished products a year. The caster reached this level of output in September 2003 (11 months after startup). The design parameters of the caster were attained tlmnks to a combination of technological, technical, and organizational factors: development and optimization of new technologies for steelmaking, out-of-furnace treatment of the steel, and continuous casting; optimization of the steelmaking-casting schedule; modernization of the caster's equipment. The addition of a "ladle-furnace" unit and reconstruction of the main components of the caster will boost its capacity beyond the original limit, which will in turn allow the combine to make competitive, high-quality products and react quickly to changes in the market.
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