Vitkovice Steel has agreed a deal to procure from Brazil’s Compania Siderúrgica de Pecém (CSP) a substantial portion of annual merchant slab feedstock requirement for its 755,000 tonnes/year heavy plate mill. The first consignment has been dispatched and is scheduled for arrival in Ostrava in October.

Czech Republic-based Vitkovice switched to sourcing merchant slab from the EU, Russia and Ukraine twelve months ago when it shut down its 950,000 t/y electric arc furnace-based meltshop (see Kallanish 1 October 2015).

CSP, which was commissioned only a few months ago, “…possesses advanced technology, and an experienced and largely foreign management focused on performance and quality,” Vitkovice Steel says. “Excellent local production conditions allow for a competitive price for their end product.” Vitkovice Steel chairman Dmitry Scuka adds: “Through interconnection with this and other existing suppliers, we distribute the risk of potential cuts in slab supply from any supplier to an acceptable level.”

Earlier this year Vitkovice completed the reconstruction of an old pusher-type reheating furnace to increase plate quality and reduce fuel consumption. Besides its plate mill the steelmaker has a seldom-used 170,000 t/y capacity heavy sections mill into which a two-high billet mill is incorporated.