MCC Becomes A Recognized Brand in Turkey

By: Cao Zhengsi, Yang Zhiqiang, Cai Jing

On September 26, 2008, the 220t electric furnace & 8-stream square billet continuous casting project of ICDA, a Turkish steelmaker, witnessed a successful one-time heat run. Later on October 7, the project, contracted by MCC Chenggong Construction Co., Ltd. (the Sichuan-based MCC subsidiary 5MCC), entered into the continuous production with a daily liquid steel output of some 4,000t. 5MCC has been highly recognized by the client with the advanced continuous production date two months ahead of the schedule, and the equipment performance in full compliance with the production requirements and the contract terms.
The project is the first contract in Turkey that covers engineering services and supply and delivery of plant (EP), and also the CFT project that 5MCC has signed in the Islamic country. Weighing a total of 5,300t, the equipment consists of the iron-making plant of 3,400t, the continuous casting machine set of 1,800t, and spare parts of 100t. The iron-making plant further comprises the scrap steel recovery device, the alloy feeding device, the lime feeding device, the scrap steel preheating device, the electronic arc furnace (EAF) and auxiliary equipment, and the ladle furnace equipment. The large quantity of equipment, broad varieties and high integration requirement make the project different from others. All the equipment was shipped in three batches to Istanbul and ICDAS’ BIGA site.
ICDAS is the largest steel complex by production capacity in Turkey, and came at the 10th place on the 2007 Turkey top 500 industrial enterprise league announced by the Istanbul industrial authority. The project was performed by 5MCC as an EP contractor – the design, procurement, manufacturing, shipping, technical service and performance testing with respect to the equipment package; trade operation (including transportation); and manufacturing of such equipment with a total weight of 1,500 tons as the scrap steel recovery device, the alloy feeding device and the lime feeding device of the iron-making plant. MCC Xi’an Electric Furnace Institute Co., Ltd. is responsible for the design of the iron-making plant and the procurement of such equipment as the electric arc furnace and the ladle furnace, CCTEC Engineering Co., Ltd. is responsible for the design of the continuous casting machine set and equipment manufacturing, and other Chinese participants included logistics operators and over 20 equipment manufacturers. Italy’s CONCAST undertook the design of the entire site and the electric automatic control system, MCC Chenggong Construction Co., Ltd. established the Turkey ICDAS Project Department, and set up the project organization structure composed of such functions as technology, procurement, trade, quality, safety, operation and financial affairs in line with the project features.
After the execution of the project, the project incurred an unexpected cost rise amid the 65% international ore price markup, the 20% domestic steel price rise, and the even more considerable increase in the international freight. To execute the first order in the Islamic country, 5MCC had no choice but to perform the contract, regardless of whatever difficulty. In anticipation of the further steel price markup according to the then domestic and international economic climates, 5MCC required MCC Xi’an Electric Furnace Institute Co., Ltd. and CCTEC Engineering Co., Ltd. accelerate the design progress, and relevant manufacturers purchase raw materials immediately after receipt of the design drawings in an effort to mitigate the pressure form the mounting raw material prices and reduce the loss so incurred.
Around late January and early February, 2008, the sudden extensive rainstorm and snowstorm brought huge difficulty to equipment production and transportation. The snow disaster resulted into the plant collapse of some manufacturers, the electricity blackout and restriction in some plants, blocked roads, failure to ensure the coating quality due to the excessively low temperature, and other problems. Even worse, the delayed arrival of the ships made the already tight schedule even tighter. In face of such situations, the project department initiated the contingency plan. First, the project department informed ICDAS of what was happening, and asked them to understand the project was influenced by force majeure; second, the project department dispatched the manufacturing workload and adjusted the processing plans among the manufacturers to ensure the equipment for urgent installation was shipped on time to avoid influencing the site installation progress; and finally, the project department asked various manufacturers to take every possible remedy to reinforce the plant, communicate with the electricity supplier to ensure the power supply, add auxiliary equipment and labor force, and use more production plants and processing machinery in order to meet the deadline. The equipment manufacturing was finally completed on schedule with guaranteed quality as a result of the concerted efforts by all the members.
When the first ship carrying the equipment arrived at ICDAS' BIGA site on March 26, 2008, the client felt very satisfied to see 5MCC had overcome the force majeure and delivered the goods in line with the specified schedule and quality standard. Some ICDAS employees even stood in front of our equipment to take pictures as a souvenir with their thumbs up. When the last batch of equipment arrived at ICDAS’ BIGA site on June 9, 2008, 5MCC had completed the task of equipment provision ahead of schedule as required by the contract.
5MCC assigned well-experienced engineers in batches to the site according to the established plan since the equipment installation entered into the peak period since April, 2008. Site service always involves experiencing the life in an alien country. The teams selected for site services were properly trained on the site conditions as well as the knowledge about Islamic culture, before their departure to Turkey.
May 12, 2008 is a day that will be engraved in the heart of 1.3 billion Chinese people, The grand earthquake in Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province became the concern of every Chinese, and the Chinese engineers on the site were also very worried, because the hometown of some engineers was just the severely hit regions in Sichuan Province. The project department acquired the information on the relatives of those engineers, and notified the site engineers in advance. Fortunately, their relatives were safe and sound during the great disaster, and the site engineers spent an unforgettable period with mutual encouragement and support.
During the equipment shakedown test, some parts and components provided by 5MCC failed to meet the requirements for use for various reasons. The site engineers spotted and analyzed the reasons and worked out the solutions. If the failure was caused by the damage during transportation, installation or shakedown test not in compliance with the specifications or other factors not attributable to 5MCC, the site engineers would submit the detailed working diagrams for the damaged parts and components to the client so that the client could fabricate or purchase such parts locally. If some parts or components were found to have quality defects indeed, the engineers would notify the domestic manufacturers to replace the damaged parts and components, and use the air freight, the most expensive but the least time-consuming, to deliver the parts or components to the Turkish site for free use by the client. With such efforts to satisfy the construction period requirement for site installation and shakedown test, 5MCC has deeply moved the Turkish client with the active response and quick action.
Every site engineer always bore it in mind that he was the spokesperson for MCC, and spared no effort to make the first Turkish deal a great success. In the case of the tight schedule, the engineers would volunteer to give up the rest time to work on the site. During the late project period, the engineers voluntarily asked to adjust the working time to work late into night since the afternoon in order to test the top filling system. After the hard work of seven days, they finally handed over the well-running top filling system to the client, ensuring the integral plant production. The industrious work had eventually yielded the rich fruit – On September 26, the heat run of the entire plant succeeded at one time, and the client was very glad, and entertained all the Chinese site engineers with the toasted fish banquet, which is used to serve honorable guests.
The smooth commissioning of the ICDAS 220t electric furnace and continuous casting machine project has perfectly showcased the strengths of MCC Group before the client, which sincerely commended MCC Group as "A Partner of Choice”. The ICDAS project has earned 5MCC a good corporate image in Turkish, fostered a crowd of talents in the metallurgical equipment plant, trade, operation and technology, and provided the useful management experience for the future contracting of CFR projects as an EP contractor.