03 April 2024
Corporate News

Foundations for success at Corby

Groundworks for the new tube mill at Tata Steel's Corby site

Preparations are well underway for a new tube mill to be installed at Tata Steel UK's Corby site later this year as part of its regeneration and renewal programme, ‘Project Aurora’.

As Works Manager Corby, Gary Blackman said: “Despite all the uncertainty in the wider business, the downstream businesses are continuing to invest and we’re making great progress with our own site’s £30million Aurora Project.

“Our new warehouse was completed last year, and the civils work is coming along well in preparation for a new combination tube mill, which will be making tubes later this year. 

“Along with that, the land sale of the old part of the site is progressing quickly and we hope to be able to soon use the funds from that for other parts of the project such as new offices and engineering workshops.”

And talking about the work to prepare for the arrival of the new combination tube mill, Project Manager Nigel Chudley said: “This mill will be making many of our premium branded products such as Celsius, HyBox and StrongBox, so it’s going to be a real showstopper for our site. But it’s only going to be as good as the foundations it’s built on, so this is a critical phase of the project.”

He continued: “The mill will weigh about 650 tonnes and stretches about 200m. It’s critical that the foundations are not only solid but completely flat and level. The teams are currently working incredibly hard to complete all the channels for water, electrics and hydraulic systems.

“We’re expecting the mill to arrive in the next few months and plan to be making tubes in the summer.”

Gary added: “We’ve also got a £20million green steel journey, the first phase of which has been the installation of electric induction furnaces on the stretch reduction tube mill to replace the old inefficient gas-powered ones. Not only will it being environmental benefits but also speed of work and quality improvements.”

“A lot of the work has been behind the scenes, but now the workforce can see the work being done, infrastructure going in – that will give them, and our customers, huge confidence in the future of the site.
“It’s all part of getting Corby fit for the future so we’re a lean, efficient, quality tube maker that’s part of a streamlined efficient UK business.”

Groundworks for the new tube mill at Tata Steel UK's Corby site
One of the Multi-Directional Trucks operating in the new tubes storage and distribution facility at Tata Steel’s Corby works

  • The Tata Steel Group has been named one of the most ethical companies in the world, and is among the top producing global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes. 
  • Tata Steel in the UK has the ambition to produce net-zero steel by 2045 at the latest, and to have reduced 30% of its CO2 emissions by 2030. 
  • Tata Steel is the largest steelmaker in the UK with primary steelmaking at Port Talbot in South Wales supporting manufacturing and distribution operations at sites across Wales, England and Northern Ireland as well as Norway, Sweden, France and Germany. It also benefits from a network of international sales offices around the world.
  • Tata Steel employs more than 8,000 people and has an annual crude steel capacity of 5 million tonnes, supplying high-quality steel products to demanding markets, including construction and infrastructure, automotive, packaging and engineering. 
  • Tata Steel Group is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and a commercial presence across the world. 

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