Kamet Steel produces record volume of high-margin grinding balls for mining companies in Aug
The Kamet Steel plant of Metinvest mining and metallurgical group (Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk region) produced a record volume of high-margin grinding balls for mining and processing plants in August.
According to the company, the rolling shop's ball-rolling section produced more than 7,000 tons of grinding balls of various diameters in August, for the first time ever. This marked the highest production volume in the entire history of the plant's ball-rolling mills.
Grinding balls are essential for the stable operation of mining and processing plants and rank among the top high-margin products in demand on both Ukrainian and European markets. Increasing the productivity of the rolling mills is therefore a key focus for long-term development. Systematic work has been underway to boost the efficiency of processes at the section and across the shop, the company reported.
The August record was described as the result of a strong team effort, a focus area since late last year. Proposed design and technological improvements were developed and implemented along the entire production line of the ball-rolling mills and across all profile sizes.
Specifically, heating and loading protocols for billets were optimized to stabilize processes, technical solutions were introduced, and for 100mm balls, changes were made to the roller control scheme at stations 19–21 during billet discharge from the furnace. This optimized heating modes and increased discharge frequency. Structural modifications also increased billet length, reducing metal consumption per unit of rolled product.
As a result, average profile productivity in grinding ball production reached a record 5.43 tons per hour in August, 0.17 tons/hour higher than in April and 0.59 tons/hour above last year's level for the actual product range. Production teams are continuing to ramp up output across key profiles in September, the company said.
Kamet Steel is part of the Metinvest Group.