Primetals awarded by Besteel for rapid recovery from fire incident

The project was completed in 44 days after the fire broke out in the drive room of the South Korean bar mill.

In May 2022, a fire struck the drive room at SeAH Besteel’s large bar mill in Gunsan, South Korea. The entire drive system was damaged, and an urgent recovery of the complete system was needed for the plant to resume operation. SeAH Besteel contacted Primetals Technologies and asked for the support required to startup the mill within 44 days.
The project posed significant challenges in terms of supply chain-related issues prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic in combination with the extremely tight deadline – similar projects usually take about one year tom complete. However, thanks to a steady flow of communication and by leveraging its global organization, Primetals Technologies was able to meet the deadline and started up the plant within the given time frame. For this extraordinary effort, Primetals Technologies was recently honoured with an appreciation award by SeAH Besteel, highlighting the close partnership between the two companies.
The fire started when a spark caused by the production ignited leaking fluid from the lubrication system at the large bar mill. It spread to cable trays and eventually reached the electrics and automation room. Almost all equipment in that room was severely damaged as a result of the fire.
Primetals Technologies was tasked with the recovery project and carried out engineering, procurement, and manufacturing of select special parts simultaneously. Moreover, on-site activities like installation, implementation, and fine-tuning of the system were also executed in parallel. Leading producer of special steel grades The intense recovery project was completed on schedule as SeAH Basteel and Primetals Technologies restarted the plant on June 4, 2022. The scope of supply included the full electrics and automation system for the large bar mill as well as engineering and implementation.
Source: Primetals