Non-grain-oriented steel for international pump manufacturer Grundfos

21 января 2019

NLMK and Euro Group Laminations Russia, a Euro Group subsidiary, have embarked on a joint project with Grundfos. Grundfos, a global pump company, plans to localize production of energy-efficient motors in Russia by the end of 2022. The joint project includes supplying stator-rotor elements to Grundfos Istra, the company’s Russian site, and integrating NLMK into Grundfos’ global supply chain.

Anatoly Slobodinsky, Plant Director at Grundfos Istra, said: “Grundfos is expanding its presence in Russia. It is critically important for us to cooperate with Russian suppliers of components complying with our standards. Cooperation with NLMK, a major Russian and global steelmaker, is a milestone on this journey towards ensuring high quality products.”

Stamping stator and rotor laminations requires advanced carbide dies and molds to fill the rotors with aluminium. The first batch of dies for the Grundfos project has already been successfully designed, produced, and tested at the Euro Group site in Italy.

Vladislav Tikhonov, Managing Director of Euro Group Laminations Russia, said: “The first die has successfully passed the test both in Europe and in Russia. Euro Group Laminations Russia has already provided the first lamination samples to Grundfos. The first tests were successful, and if the further test results of the dies will satisfy both parties, we will purchase approximately 2,000 tonnes of NLMK steel annually for this project.”

Mikhail Kulikov, NLMK Group Head of Marketing (Electrical Engineering) said: “For NLMK Group, these are logical next steps in collaborating with Euro Group, our long-standing partner, and with the global equipment manufacturers localizing their production facilities in Russia. Moreover, such cooperation is fully in line with NLMK’s strategy aimed at growing our presence in the segment of high value-added products – in this case, non-grain-oriented steel with low specific losses.”

The stator-rotor packages produced at the Russian Euro Group site will be used to produce electric motors at the Grundfos Istra plant and included into the Grundfos’ global supply chain. According to NLMK’s preliminary estimates, its non-grain-oriented steel supplies to Grundfos will double.