The crane ordered for the Mittal Steel project in Poland.

KCI Konecranes will supply one of its largest orders to a central European steel mill, through turnkey contractor SMS-Demag AG.

For an undisclosed sum, eight Konecranes steel mill cranes will be delivered to Mittal Steel, in Poland. Two will be used for maintenance and the other six in materials handling.

The turnkey contract with SMS-Demag includes a two-strand slab caster, which will double production capacity at Mittal's Dabrowa Gornicza mill. Dabrowa will increase annual production volume to three million tons of slabs, which will be handled by the cranes.

The cranes, designed to operate in hot environments, have high duty ratings and lift capacities of up to 70 tons. Five cranes will handle one to three slabs simultaneously. The sixth crane, equipped with magnets, can handle slabs on the cutting table.

All cranes are equipped with KCI Konecranes' patented inverter frequency control technology, the DynAPilot anti-sway system and air-conditioned containers. The cranes handle large volumes of hot slabs in the mill's new storage area.

Konecranes and SMS-Demag are discussing modernising the mill's existing cranes.

Konecranes director of Nordic process cranes, Petteri Viinanen, said:
"During past years we have cooperated with SMS-Demag and developed crane solutions for the steel industry. SMS-Demag has played an important role in several of KCI Konecranes' steel mill deliveries but this is the first large and direct order received through SMS-Demag.

"This is our first large delivery to Mittal Steel and we are very happy to get an opportunity to supply high-performance cranes to the largest steel company in the world."

SMS-Demag is an equipment producer for metallurgical plants and rolling mills.