The Tornio steel mill of AvestaPolarit, which is part of the Outokumpu Group, will be the world's biggest producer of stainless steel at the end of 2004, when the extension project that is at present under way has been completed and the entire capacity is being used. After the extension projects, which will cost almost one billion euros, the annual capacity of the melting shop and hot-rolling mill will be 1.7 million tonnes and that of the cold-rolling mill 1.2 million tonnes.

AvestaPolarit, which is part of the Outokumpu Group, specializes in manufacturing steel products. It is one of Outokumpu's main business areas. In 2001 its turnover was about 3 billion euros. The most important steel-coil production plants besides Tornio are in Sweden and Great Britain. AvestaPolarit has the widest product range on the market. It extracts chrome ore, from which it produces ferrochrome which acts as a raw material in the steel production. It is also a major producer of several other steel products: hot-rolled plates, long products, precision strips, tubes and fittings, and welding products. The number of employees is about 9,000, 2,500 of whom are employed in Finland. The extension at the Tornio Works will create 320 new jobs and with its knock-on effects some 900 in the Kemi-Tornio area.

The Tornio Works consists of a ferrochrome works and steel mill. The ferrochrome works produces ferrochrome, a compound of chrome and steel. The chrome is derived from a concentrate that comes from the Kemi mine, the only chrome mine in the EU region. The molten ferrochrome is transferred directly to the neighbouring steel mill's melting shop, where steel slabs are produced from it and also from scrap iron, nickel and other raw materials. The slabs, which are about 14 metres long, are processed in the hot-rolling mill and coiled into hot bands. One slab may stretch to a kilometre in length. The hot strips are processed during numerous work stages in the cold-rolling mill so that they stretch to a length of about 4 kilometres. Afterwards they are cut to the desired measurements.

Steel recycles for ever

The ferrochrome works and steel mill at Tornio have achieved cost effectiveness by means of a unique and fully integrated production chain. Ferrochrome is the most important raw material for stainless steel in addition to steel scrap and nickel.

Recycling is an essential part of the Tornio mill's operations. 60 per cent of the used raw material is steel scrap, and the stainless steel that is produced can be recycled indefinitely. Of the total costs of the extension 70 million euros will be spent on protecting the environment. In order to reduce dust emissions in the melting process three new filtering units have been constructed. Closed circulation pipes have been installed for the waste water and a drainage system into settlement ponds for the surface water. A second neutralizing station, acid recovery station and equipment for gas cleaning have been built at the cold-rolling mill.

According to advanced information on 30 January 2003, the Outokumpu Group's turnover for 2002 was 5,558 million euros (2001: 5,324 million euros) and the operating profit 267 million euros (2001: 183 million euros). Although the profitability at the end of the year was poorer than expected, the profit for the whole year was much better than in 2001.

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The new electric arc furnace at the Tornio Works is the biggest in the world used for melting stainless steel. It is almost eight metres in diameter and in the centre between the 700-millimetre graphite electrodes and scrap rumbles thunder, and the length of a flash of lightning is almost half a metre at full capacity. The heat melts 140 tonnes of metal in under an hour and during that time expends about a fifth of the energy required by a fully-electrified detached house.