El Marakby: A minimill designed for growth

This partnership beween El Marakby and SMS group began in 2016 with the establishment of an electric meltshop and casting plant, featuring a 45 t AC EAF (electric arc furnace) with a capacity of 350,000 t/year, a ladle furnace, and a three-strand billet caster. Located in 6th of October City near Giza, this new facility was designed to enhance El Marakby’s competitiveness by expanding its range of steel grades and enabling more flexible rebar production. Yet behind this lay a more strategic plan, as the layout of the casting plant allowed for the delivery of hot billets to a future rolling mill, setting the stage for further expansion.

It took only three years until this next phase was launched. In 2019, the new rebar and wire rod mill supplied by SMS went into operation, taking advantage of the hot connection with the caster. This mill, which started with square 130 mm billets heated by a modern pusher furnace, was designed to produce rebars ranging from 10 to 32 mm and wire rod coils from 5.5 to 12 mm. A key feature of the mill is the high-speed delivery system (HSD^®), which facilitates the production of straight bars without the complications of slitting, ensuring closer tolerances and better rolling control. The high-speed finishing block, with modules in ultra-heavy-duty design, produces quality wire rod at minimal operating costs, all managed through a level 2 automation system provided by SMS group.

Following its start-up, the minimill achieved exceptionally successful results, with yield improvements of between 97.5% and 98%. This performance, coupled with lower natural gas consumption, significantly reduced the cost per ton. In an interview at the wire and tube trade fair in 2024, Hassan El Marakby, CEO of El Marakby, emphasized, “We are one of the efficiency leaders in the market. We achieve a very high yield, and a very high utilization rate. Long products are a very competitive market and thanks to SMS we are able to compete on a global level.”

With the continued success of El Marakby’s products, the minimill gradually reached its capacity limits. In 2023, an SMS team conducted a comprehensive efficiency analysis of the minimill, identifying opportunities for optimizing the meltshop, plant operations, production processes, and raw material supply chains. 

This analysis gave rise to a strategic plan focused on operational improvements. Additionally, El Marakby decided to invest in scrap preparation equipment, as scrap density had already been previously identified as an action point. By optimizing the key areas of the meltshop, El Marakby was able to increase its production capacity by around 10%.

Nevertheless, these optimizations alone could not bring the minimill to the level needed to drive El Marakby’s ongoing growth. That’s why in 2024, the electric arc furnace, the caster, and the rolling mill were modernized by SMS group. 

Upgrades to the meltshop included the installation of a 55 MVA transformer, two new-generation Conso systems for lime and carbon injection, and the Condoor automatic slag door. The Condoor guarantees enhanced efficiency by reducing the power-off time and electrode consumption while increasing the metallic yield. Automatic cleaning cycles not only enhance safety but also minimize the risk of refractory damage. The Conso system in the EAF provided the additional chemical energy needed for charge melting and liquid bath superheating. 

To expand the product portfolio and boost the production capacity of the minimill from 400,000 to 460,000 t of rebar and wire rod per year, a new 150 mm square billet cross-section was introduced in the continuous casting plant. The introduction of Convex mold tube technology for 150 mm square billets also enhanced the production process by improving heat transfer and surface quality, ensuring consistent dimensions, and reducing defects.

In the rolling mill, the roughing mill area will be equipped with two additional cartridge housingless stands, one in a horizontal design (H) and the other vertical (V), thus increasing flexibility and efficiency and allowing the mill to accommodate the new billet size. This will enable El Marakby to increase material yield and achieve a coil weight of 2 t in its wire rod line.

In our interview at the wire and tube trade fair, Hassan El Marakby looked back on the cooperation with SMS group, commenting, “Dealing with SMS was very impactful on our growth.” When we asked him why the collaboration is so powerful, he replied, “We share the same values with SMS: We both are absolutely customer centric.”