On October 21st Tata Steel Europe officially unveiled its new continuous casting line at Ijmuiden steelworks in The Netherlands. By the name of CGM23, the casting line is the third continuous casting line of Tata Steel Europe and a part of Tata Steel’s ambitious investment program. CGM23 is the biggest and most important continuous casting line with a total cost of 220 million euros. With the new line Tata Steel Europe is able to produce an even wider selection of “advanced high strength steels” and “ultra high strength steels” , which are super strong, but at the same time easily formable. 

The construction of the new continuous casting machine started in 2016. In order to build the new continuous casting machine, a construction pit was dug in the steel mill with a width of 40 meters, a length of 195 meters and a depth of 14 meters. 12,000 m3 of concrete was poured for the foundation and about 2 million kilos of steel were used. At the busiest times, 200 builders were working simultaneously.

Hans van den Berg, chairman of the board of Tata Steel Netherlands said: “I am extremely proud of the fact that here in IJmuiden we are now putting into operation the most advanced continuous casting machine in the world, with which we can produce the very best qualities of steel for our customers.” 

He added, “With this installation, we are going to make the steel of the future, even stronger and even more sustainable. In this way we can distinguish ourselves from the competition and strengthen our position at the top of the steel world. My thanks go to everyone who helped to build this enormous installation in a rotating steel factory. This was truly a titanic job.”