No delays for now at Thyssenkrupp plant

07/17/2009

By Sam Barnes

Despite a dismal report in May, ThyssenKrupp AG has decided to leave the production deadline unchanged at its $4.6 billion carbon and stainless steel plant in Calvert, Ala.
           
Mary Mullins, director of communications for ThyssenKrupp Stainless USA, says the stainless steel production deadline remains in fourth quarter 2010 despite an earlier statement saying it might delay production.

“Nothing has changed in our construction or production schedule,” Mullins says.
In a May 12 management report on the first half of fiscal 2008-09, ThyssenKrupp said it might put off the construction and startup of the main part of its steel plant north of Mobile, Ala. The report said collapsing worldwide steel demand had led to a 25 percent drop in orders and a 16 percent drop in sales compared to the first half of fiscal 2007-2008.

The massive dual-output facility, which straddles Mobile and Washington counties, will have carbon steel and stainless steel operations run by separate subsidiaries with different management structures. Once fully up and running, the plant is expected to employ 2,700 people, with about 1,800 working on the larger carbon steel side.

In January the company said that it was delaying the start of stainless steel production by one year to late 2010, but added that ThyssenKrupp is on pace to meet its original goal of beginning carbon steel production – which will account for roughly two-thirds of the plant’s output – in spring 2010.

Mullins says there has been no decrease in the number of construction workers at the site and no change to the construction schedule since the January announcement.

Last week, GEI Consultants Inc. of Boston, Mass., announced that it was selected to help with design of one of the shared components at the site, a massive water treatment plant.

The firm was selected by Coastal Caisson Corp./Bauer to perform geostructural engineering services for a 150-ft diameter, 100-ft-deep diaphragm wall shaft. The shaft will serve as temporary excavation support during the 100-ft deep excavation for the construction of the treatment plant, and will become a wet-well for the plant after construction is completed.

GEI will also analyze and design a reinforced concrete base slab supported by permanent tiedowns for the construction of the permanent processing plant structure.

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