Land on the Isle of Sheppy was acquired in 1968 by the Sheerness Steel Company and work on a steelworks began. Built within the Garrison Town surrounding Sherness Naval Dockyard, the first steel was produced in 1972 and production continued for the next thirty years.
In 2003 the site was sold and the new owners invested heavily into Thamesteel, revitalising the production facilities and rolling mill. A new 95 tonne Fuchs UHP Electric Arc Furnace was installed, replacing the original blast furnace and enabling the recycling of scrap steel, followed by two in-line ladle furnaces to refine the steel before continually casting into billet. The new furnace and further investment in 2006 in a 4 station continuous casting machine increased production from 750,000 to 1 million tonnes.
A large 18 stand rolling mill rolled the billets into straight bar rounds and rebar. In turn this was fed into a 10 stand rod finishing block. The resultant round or ribbed steel rods were then cooled and if necessary, coiled.
By the late 2010s the company was experiencing financial difficulties and the threat of closure was realised. A number of measures were put in place to try to save the steelworks but in 2012 negative conditions in the market sealed its fate. The plant closed making all 350 staff redundant.
Talk of the plant reopening continues, but with 250 outstanding unfair dismissal claims to be resolved first, a £3.5 million bill served on the land-owners to remove contaminated waste from the site and the deteriorating state of the structure, re-opening looks very unlikely.
Visited with @SpiderMonkey and Kriegaffe9.
In 2003 the site was sold and the new owners invested heavily into Thamesteel, revitalising the production facilities and rolling mill. A new 95 tonne Fuchs UHP Electric Arc Furnace was installed, replacing the original blast furnace and enabling the recycling of scrap steel, followed by two in-line ladle furnaces to refine the steel before continually casting into billet. The new furnace and further investment in 2006 in a 4 station continuous casting machine increased production from 750,000 to 1 million tonnes.
A large 18 stand rolling mill rolled the billets into straight bar rounds and rebar. In turn this was fed into a 10 stand rod finishing block. The resultant round or ribbed steel rods were then cooled and if necessary, coiled.
By the late 2010s the company was experiencing financial difficulties and the threat of closure was realised. A number of measures were put in place to try to save the steelworks but in 2012 negative conditions in the market sealed its fate. The plant closed making all 350 staff redundant.
Talk of the plant reopening continues, but with 250 outstanding unfair dismissal claims to be resolved first, a £3.5 million bill served on the land-owners to remove contaminated waste from the site and the deteriorating state of the structure, re-opening looks very unlikely.
Visited with @SpiderMonkey and Kriegaffe9.
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