New Tata Steel mill that will 'cement' tube-making in Corby for next thirty years takes delivery of state-of-the-art machinery

It’s 90 years since steelmaking started in Corby, and Tata is set to open its state-of-the-art tube mill in October as part of the £30m Project Aurora development programme at its historic Weldon Road site.

Equipment, shipped in from Italy, is now being installed in the building that has been remodelled to incorporate the latest technology.

The ‘combination mill’ will replace the old 6 inch and cold formed tube mills.

Civil works have been carried out by Corby construction giant MPB, which is based next door to Tata. Those works are now complete and the electrical and mechanical installation is under way.

The design and build of the new machinery has been overseen by a team at Mair Research, based around an hour from Venice. The firm now has a group of engineers on site in Corby to manage the installation of the hardware.

It is beginning to arrive on-site in sections which will be slotted into position by Portsmouth-based Rapid Response Solutions.

It’s hoped the new mill will start operating in October this year.

Tata Steel’s Works Manager at Corby, Gary Blackman said: “This is a hugely exciting time for the site. The new tube mill will replace our old cold formed tube mill and our 6” tube mill and has been years in the planning. It’s the latest piece in the puzzle to transform Corby into a truly world-class and net-zero steel tube making facility.

"The business is committed to Corby and the downstream business in general. It’s our job to be fit for the future and ready for when they strike up the new facility in Port Talbot to make sure we are part of a lean and profitable business.”

Alongside Project Aurora is a further £20m plan to transform Tata’s operations into an end-to-end net zero process. The company will stop using natural gas in most of its manufacturing and will start using renewable electricity. That will ensure that Corby is producing the greenest steel tubes in the world.

Gary said: "The site has gone through peaks and troughs and there have been times when the future was quite concerning for the workforce.

"When you’re spending sums like £30m it becomes a more positive place to work.”

The Tata Steel Corby site is already benefitting from a new integrated warehouse facility and has replaced old inefficient gas-fired furnaces with electric induction furnaces in its stretch-reduction tube mill.

While Port Talbot’s works are being modernised, Corby has been taking some coil – the huge flattened steel coils from which it rolls its tubes – from India to ensure there is no disruption in the supply chain. It will resume taking all its coil from Wales when Port Talbot’s electric arc furnaces are switched on.

The company also recently announced the sale of its old 99-acre West Works plot. The £12m generated from the sale will be used for further developing its stores, workshops and offices. The stores, engineering and commercial offices have been relocated to the east side of the works.

Project Aurora manager Nigel Chudley said: “My team and I are absolutely delighted to be in this position. It cements the future for tube-making on the Corby site with equipment that’s world class for the next 25 to 30 years. This will serve Corby and Northamptonshire well.

“I’d like to pay credit to local Corby company, MPB, whose work in completing the civil engineering work on site, has been superb.

“With parts of the new tube mill arriving daily, we’re now looking forward to collaborating in a similar fashion with Rapid Response Solutions, with the original equipment manufacturer, Mair, also onsite to oversee the construction and commissioning.”

Claire Mellows, RRS Group’s business development director said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as the installation contractor for this project – one of the first new mills to be built for Tata Steel in the UK in decades.

"This project represents another chapter in RRS’s growth strategy, and we are thrilled to be working alongside the Tata Steel project team. We look forward to delivering the new tube mill on time, on budget and with safety as our absolute priority.”