SMS Siemag

First heat and first slab at Maghreb Steel

For Maghreb Steel, Morocco, SMS Siemag, Germany, successfully put into operation an X-Melt electric steelmaking plant and an X-Cast slab caster.

Othman Benmlih, General Manager of Maghreb Steel: ‘’This is the very first slab ever cast in Morocco. And we have succeeded in producing perfect slabs straightaway. It couldn’t have been better. SMS Siemag has done an excellent job here.’’

With the new works complex, the customer can cover the entire product range from liquid steel to the final product and will thus considerably enhance his capacities and the value-added chain. As part of the unique integrated plant concept, the flow of production splits up downstream of the caster. The slabs can either be processed into steel strip in the Steckel rolling mill or into plates in the heavy-plate mill. Whereas the Steckel mill had already been in operation since 2010, the heavy plate mill was started up in October 2011.

The facilities are designed for an annual production of 1 million t of steel and will supply the Steckel rolling mill and heavy-plate mill with input stock. Production comprises low and medium-carbon as well as high-strength low-alloy steels to cover the company’s  own demand and for export.

SMS Siemag supplied a 120-t electric arc furnace with modern ARCCESS technology, a 120-t ladle furnace, a gas cleaning plant, the materials handling system for alloying agents and a single-strand slab caster.

The electric arc furnaces of the ARCCESS series are optimized for highly efficient use of electrical energy and equipped with future-oriented burner and oxygen injector technology. This concept proves its worth through high productivity while keeping production costs low.

The continuous caster produces slabs in widths from 900 mm to 2,150 mm and with a gage of 200 mm.  The caster equipment includes several ISC modules (Intelligent Slab Casting) for high-quality products and production. Among these are the hydraulically actuated resonance oscillation system and the position-controlled CYBERLINK segments to perform Dynamic Soft Reduction. In combination with width- dependent air-mist secondary cooling and the process model for Dynamic Solidification Control, these technological features guarantee the production of slabs of good internal quality.

The scope of supply comprised the detail engineering, mechanical and hydraulic equipment as well as the complete X-Pact electrical and automation package including the process models.

Maghreb Steel is one of the largest manufacturers of cold-rolled products in the North African region. In the past Maghreb Steel bought the slabs and plates processed in the company’s existing rolling mills from external sources.

X-Melt and X-cast are SMS Siemag trademarks from the Steel-making and Continuous Casting Technologies Division. They are the brand names for plants and technologies that set standards for the economical production of high-quality steel products.