Pohang Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (POSCO), Korea, has awarded Concast, Switzerland, a contract for the supply of a three-strand continuous bloom caster.

The annual capacity at the Pohang works will thus be increased to 1.1million t. The section size of the blooms is 400 x 500 mm, and the special steel grades to be cast will include cold-heading steels, spring steel, bearing steel, tyre wires and welding wires.

The plant with a 16.5 m casting radius and multi-point straightening is equipped with Concast technology: plate-type molds with mold stirrer, strand stirrer (rotating), air-mist cooling system, mechanical soft reduction at the pinch roll unit (a total of eleven modules), torch cutter with deburrer as well as bloom marking.

Together with the consortium partners POSCO E&C and POSCON, two companies of the POSCO group, Concast bears the overall responsibility for the technological concept and will supply the core components.

The first cast is planned for December 31, 2007.