Tag Archives: NLMK

Back at La Louviere

Posted on by

Roughing Stand

Back at the old Gustave Boël site in La Louviere, Belgium after 13 years.
A lot has changed, no more steel making, no more continuous casting, no more wire rolling.
NLMK from Russia took over in 2011 and still operates the 72″ hot strip mill  which was put into operation in November 1965.

Finishing stands

Together with the LD steelworks, it was part of a major investment in anticipation of the extension of the Brüssel-Charleroi Canal for 1350 t vessels.
The roughing stand was supplied by Maschinenfabrik Sack in Düsseldorf – the finishing line was a cooperation between Siemag from Hilchenbach and the United Engineering and Foundry Company from Pittsburgh.
The roughing stand was equipped with two 5000 kW DC engines and each finishing stand was driven by a 4500 kW DC motor.
Further images on my website.

Thin Plate Mill

Posted on by


The rolling mill in Clabecq, Belgium goes back to the old Forges de Clabecq, founded in 1850.
After the closure of it’s blast furnaces and steel production in 2002 the site was taken over by NLMK from Russia in 2006.
The unique thin plate mill includes a quarto roughing stand and four continuous finishing stands and was built in 1971.
Photos now at my website.