Zaporizhstal of Metinvest Group, in accordance with its annual capital investment programme, continues to carry out comprehensive major overhauls of three groups of soaking pits (with four pits in each group) in the slab section of the hot rolling shop. The total amount of investments exceeds UAH 135 million.
"Today, Zaporizhstal operates at only 75% of its production capacity, however, we execute the programme for maintenance and repair of production equipment at 100%. In particular, a major upgrade of the soaking pits is currently underway, which are an important link in the technological process of hot rolling at Zaporizhstal. The quality of finished steel products, mechanical properties of the rolled products, and compliance with standards and customer requirements depend on the stability of the temperature regime and uniformity of billet heating in the pits," explained Taras Shevchenko, Acting General Director of Zaporizhstal, Hero of Ukraine.
In addition to specialists from the engineering service, automation office, and Zaporizhstal's central electrotechnical laboratory, specialists from the Etalonbudservis and MSK Prime contracting companies are also involved. As part of the major overhaul, they will dismantle worn refractories and replace them with new lining, particularly products manufactured by Zaporizhvognetryv of Metinvest Group. The total mass of refractory bricks and shotcrete mixture amounts to over 2,200 tonnes.
They will also upgrade mechanical and power equipment, communications, and shut-off valves. Specialists will replace approximately 900 tonnes of steel structures and conduct repair and replacement of hydraulic devices, automation, and temperature sensors, etc.
The soaking pits provide thermal preparation of castings weighing up to 16 tonnes before rolling into slabs and subsequently into thin rolled products. The major overhaul of this equipment complex will significantly improve the reliability of its operation, energy efficiency, and minimise risks of unscheduled technological shutdowns.
As a reminder, this year Zaporizhstal will also carry out a complex of major overhauls of key units of the heat and power plant — boiler unit No. 5, turbine generator unit No. 1, and turbo compressor unit No. 7. The enterprise will allocate about UAH 75 million of investments for these purposes. Overall, despite the challenging economic situation, the capital investment budget has been increased to UAH 1.1 billion in 2025.