Installation of the basic structures at Novolipetsk Steel’s new blast furnace #7 of a 3.4 million tonnes annual capacity has been completed. As of today more than 30% of the work has been completed. The furnace’s shell, including its support system, off-gas system, charging device and stove housing, has been installed.

In accordance with the construction schedule, installation of bin trestle for ore and coke material intake and feeding, and installation of the refractory lining, has begun. In 2010 NLMK plans to install basic process equipment. By mid-2011 the automatic process control system should be implemented, and hot testing will begin.

The new blast furnace facility and related units will be located in a 78 hectare area in the southern part of Lipetsk production site. The construction is expected to use 75,000 tonnes of steel structures, 25,000 tonnes of refractories and 40,000 tonnes of process equipment. The facility’s infrastructure will also include about 50 km of new railways and motor roads.

The construction of BF-7 started in 2008. This project is being implemented by NLMK in conjunction with Paul Wurth (Luxemburg) and UZTM (Yekaterinburg) within the framework of Stage II of NLMK's Technical Upgrade Program. 

The new furnace will increase NLMK’s steel-making capacity at its main production site in Lipetsk to 12.4 million tonnes per year or by 40% in 2012.  

Notes:

Blast Furnace No.7 is the first project of its kind in contemporary Russia. New blast furnaces  have not been constructed in Russia for over 20 years, since the Soviet Union. Blast Furnace No.7 will be an innovative production facility based on the best technical solutions of recent years and will have no Russian counterparts.  It will provide high-capacity resource-saving and highly automated iron-making processes.  Stage I of NLMK's Technical Upgrade Program was launched in 2000 and successfully completed in 2006.