In September 2023, the world’s first 3-strand continuous slab caster was implemented at Chinese steel producer Tangshan Donghua Iron and Steel Enterprise Group’s site in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. This machine was one of six casters started up by Primetals Technologies that month.
The new 3-strand solution comes with several benefits for Tangshan Donghua. The conventional alternative, a configuration of two 2-strand continuous casters, would have required double the space of the 3-strand slab caster. Moreover, there are CAPEX- and OPEX-related gains as well: A reduction in CAPEX is assured thanks to reduced expenditures on equipment and civil works, and the efficient configuration of the 3-strand caster results in lower costs for operation and maintenance of the machine.