OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2007. Russian Metallurgical and Scrap-processing Group ESTAR (Electric Steel of Russia) plans to expand the metallurgical plant Frolovo, part of the Group, known as Volga-FEST. The plant produces square blanks on the basis of scrap. Production rate of 220,000 t of blanks is expected in 2007. That is 12% more on the year-on-year basis: in 2006 the plant produced 196,800 t.

At the first stage of development ESTAR plans to increase the arc furnace (AF) productivity at Volga-FEST up to 320,000 t per year. This rate complies with the capacity of the existing blanks CC machine (BCCM). AF reconstruction is to be finished in the third quarter of 2009 that will cost ?25 mln ($36 mln).

The estimated capacity of improved AF will be 480,000 t per year. As a result, at the second upgrade stage ESTAR plans to install a new CC machine at Volga-FEST with the respective blanks yield of 480,000 t per year. The work will take about 1.5 years and cost about ?11 mln.

ESTAR expects the complete renovation of blanks production plant Volga-FEST to be finished in 2011. The plant is located in Southern Russia, in the Volgograd region, near sea and river ports; a considerable part of the production is exported, according to Steel Business Briefing, an information agency that represents ESTAR.

ESTAR also decided to construct at Volga-FEST the second electric steel melting shop with an AF and a bar rolling mill, each with an output capacity up to 500,000 t per year. It is expected that one of the products manufactured on the rolling mill will be fittings for sale on the Russian market, according to an ESTAR representative.