UK engineering co wins ultra-large castings contract

SFIL will deliver 11 castings over two years weighing in excess of 320 tonnes each making them some of the largest individual cast components ever manufactured.

Manufacture of the components will begin early 2015, creating a significant body of work for all of SFIL’s operational areas and its 800 staff and will see the production of more than 6,000 tonnes of molten steel, with each casting requiring multiple ladles of steel poured continuously.

Dr Steve Price, managing director of sales at SFIL, said: “Sheffield Forgemasters is extremely proud to be the chosen partner of SMS Meer for this project and signing the contract is the culmination of a lot of input and hard work by our UK and German sales teams.

“This contract is important for Sheffield Forgemasters and for the volume of work it brings to the city. It is also important for the UK, as one of the few countries in the world and the only country in Europe, with the skills and capacity to produce these ultra-large castings.”

SFIL has the largest foundry facilities in Europe and is one of the only companies in the world able to manufacture ultra-large castings of more than 150 tonnes in weight, with a track record of casting ‘firsts’ including the largest ever cast nodes for offshore use created for the Aasta Hansteen Spar platform in 2013.

Dr Price added: “SFIL has a long working relationship with the SMS group of companies to create ultra-large castings for a global portfolio of projects and this renewal of that relationship comes at a good time for us as we continue to work our way out of the effects of the wider global recession and late-cycle orders.

“The castings will provide a significant body of work across the site but particularly for the Melt Shop, Foundry and machine shops.”

SFIL has previously worked with SMS Meer, a world leader in the production of metals processing and manufacturing machinery to produce a broad range of technically challenging, ultra-large castings including the world’s largest single casting for a closed-die forging press - weighing in at 325 tonnes.