The production capacity of the new unit, which is scheduled to start-up at the end of 2012, will reach 2,000 tonnes per day of gaseous oxygen. It will also produce nitrogen, argon and rare gases. The new state-of-the-art Air Separation Unit, designed by Air Liquide, will be built and operated by Air Liquide Severstal (ALS), the joint venture created in 2005 in which Air Liquide holds 75% and Severstal 25%. This new unit, based at Cherevopets, will bring the total production capacity of ALS on this site to 5,000 tonnes per day.
The global investments will amount to €50 million.
Guy Salzgeber, member of the Air Liquide Group Executive Committee, Vice-President North and Central Europe, declared: “We are very pleased to see that, after more than two years of operation in Cherepovets, the cooperation based on mutual long-term trust between our two companies is now being reinforced. This new contract is symbolic of our development potential in this expanding area.”
Anatoly Kruchinin, a member of the JSC Severstal Administration Board and Managing Director of the Cherepovets steelwork company Severstal, commented: “We continue our partnership within the frame of current activities of joint venture ALS. After a successful experience of the first project, we are confident that Air Liquide is a responsible and reliable partner with whom we have efficient collaboration. The new project will allow us to implement sequentially converter steel production development program. ALS applies the latest technologies for gas production, paying close attention to the environment and industrial safety. That makes this project even more significant”.