Mexico's Deacero Successfully Completes First Billet Continuous Casting at New Micro Steel Mill

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 2, Italian metallurgical equipment manufacturer Danieli and Mexican steel company Deacero successfully completed the first billet continuous casting at their new micro steel mill in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, marking new commissioning progress at the production facility supplied by Danieli. The casting operation used molten steel supplied by the existing steelmaking system, creating conditions for subsequent beam blank production and the manufacture of large structural sections.

The new steel mill adopts a phased startup approach. During this casting process, the production facility supplied molten steel through the existing electric arc furnace at Steelmaking Plant No. 1, and the associated continuous casting unit completed the first billet casting. Meanwhile, the new electric arc furnace at Steelmaking Plant No. 2 is still undergoing commissioning. This configuration allows the company to verify the continuous casting equipment and related production processes before the new electric arc furnace is fully operational, reducing commissioning constraints associated with the simultaneous startup of different process equipment.

Danieli supplied the continuous casting equipment for this project and worked with Deacero to advance the mill startup. Following the successful casting of the first billets, the project entered the next phase of commissioning. According to the schedule announced by both parties, the company will continue startup work for beam blank production in the coming weeks, preparing for the subsequent manufacture of large structural sections.

A corporate announcement issued by Deacero on November 3 further confirmed that the first billet continuous casting is an important milestone in the startup of the new Ramos Arizpe mill. The project is part of the company's long-term investment plan to expand its steel product portfolio, with the goal of increasing manufacturing capacity for structural sections used in construction and extending its existing rebar, wire rod and other long product businesses into the field of large steel structural materials.

According to the investment plan previously announced by Deacero, the Ramos Arizpe expansion project involves approximately US$600 million in investment and is planned to adopt new manufacturing technologies, intelligent systems and lower-emission production processes. The expansion plan also proposes creating approximately 2,500 jobs after project completion and gradually providing approximately 1,500 positions during the construction phase. The above investment and employment figures pertain to the overall expansion plan announced earlier and are not additional investment or hiring arrangements associated with this first continuous casting.