Dec. 12, 2012
ThyssenKrupp Stainless Opens Melt Shop in Alabama
ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA launched the final production line at its Calvert, Ala., facility. The melt shop is the last in a series of stainless steel manufacturing processes the company has brought online over the past three years to serve its customers in the North American market.
The site now manufactures in a process that encompasses the full life cycle of stainless steel—by reclaiming and melting scrap metal into molten material, casting it into slabs, hot rolling it into coils, annealing and pickling the coils, cold rolling the material for strength and thickness, and finishing it according to the specifications of its North American customers. The company launched its production at the Calvert site in September 2009, serving customers by finishing products and working backwards until completing the melt shop.
"The full operation of the world's most technologically advanced stainless steel manufacturing facility is what we have all worked toward since we first announced we would make Alabama our home in May 2007," says CEO Michael Wallis.
ThyssenKrupp's stainless facility was designed to include the melt shop with one million metric tons of capacity; cold-rolling mill for 54-, 64-, and 74-inch coils; hot-annealing and pickling; cold-annealing and pickling; a skin pass mill; and finishing and polishing equipment. It is located on the same site as the company's carbon mill.