Danieli offers continuous casting machine for Paz del Rio

Italian technology provider Danieli has put in an offer to construct a continuous casting machine required by debt-ridden Colombian steelmaker Acerias Paz del Rio as part of its industrial conversion plan, an official from the steel company said. "We are studying this new range of possibilities thrown up in the last few days given the improved situation of the firm," Carlos Zambrano, a Paz del Rio consultant, told BNamericas. Other companies that have put in offers to supply equipment for the conversion process include STS, Azcornia Combustion and FAIN. The steel industry worldwide has picked up, bringing improved fortunes for the Colombian company. Domestic demand has also improved, leading to optimum production levels at the Paz del Rio plant, according to the consultant, who is advising the company on the conversion process. A number of Paz del Rio specialists are due to go to Taiwan to assess the condition of some second-hand steel processing equipment which it is hoped will be incorporated in the conversion work. Acerias Paz del Rio is in the grips of Law 550, Colombia's bankruptcy protection legislation, and has to sign an agreement with its creditors before July 19 next to begin phasing out its obligations under the terms of the law. The conversion project is seen as an essential feature of the creditors' agreement as it provides a formula by which debts can be repaid. "Without this conversion the plant is not viable, so some decisions are going to have to be taken in this respect fairly soon," Zambrano said. The US$13.5mn work includes plans to buy new equipment such as the continuous casting machine, a ladle furnace, and a billet-heating furnace. "They are a series of machines that could increase production by between 30% and 40%," the consultant said. Three investor groups have expressed an interest in financing the project, one from Colombia's Antioquia department and two from the US, company executives said previously. In the long term, the project is aimed at doubling output at the plant, in Belencito in central Colombia's Boyaca department, to 500,000t/y. The conversion is also designed to cut CO2 emissions, reduce energy consumption and improve productivity.