Steel Mills
Big River Steel’s First Full Month of Production Sets Record
Written by Sandy Williams
February 2, 2017
February 1, 2017 (Osceola, Arkansas) – Big River Steel today announced that it has established a new production record in terms of tons of steel produced by a SMS group supplied flat-rolled mini mill during the first full month of operation. With over 63,000 tons of hot rolled steel produced in January, Big River Steel’s first full month of production, Big River Steel topped the previous first month production record according to data maintained by SMS group, Big River Steel’s lead technology supplier.
“Starting up a mill such as Big River’s takes a team effort and all of us at Big River take pride in this accomplishment as we work to meet the demands of our customers,” said Dave Stickler, Big River Steel’s chief executive officer.
Big River Steel has built the world’s first Flex Mill™, a steel mini mill focused on the production of a wide product spectrum, including advanced automotive steels and electrical steels. The Big River Steel facility, located in Osceola, Arkansas, is designed to produce the largest range of hot strip dimensions possible using the latest thin slab casting and rolling technologies from SMS.
Axel Sprenger, project manager for SMS group, stated, “The Big River Steel team is extremely impressive and SMS is proud to be working alongside so many experienced operators and managers. This start-up record is just one of many milestones that the Big River Steel and SMS teams have already achieved.”
About Big River Steel: Big River Steel is located on 1,300 acres in Osceola, Arkansas. The site is bordered on the east by the Mississippi River and on the west by a main line railroad operated by BNSF. The $1.3 billion Flex Mill™ combines the best of integrated mills and mini mills.
About SMS Group: The SMS group is a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. Its 14,000 employees generate sales of over EUR 3.3 bn.
(Source: Big River Steel)
Sandy Williams
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