Derivados del Acero (DA) is a leading organization in the production and commercialization of steel wire derivatives in Cuba, articles and their derivatives, coated welding electrodes and others. The company has more than three decades experience of excellent work, commended by its customers for satisfaction and trustworthiness, thanks to a wide range of products certified as high quality. It is part of the Business Group of the Steelworking Industry (GESIME), belonging to the Ministry of Industries. As part of the industrialization process of the city of Nuevitas, the factories that make up the company were created in 1963, when the then Minister of the sector, Ernesto &Che" Guevara, founded the first of its kind in Camagüey, specifically in the municipality of Nuevitas. Currently, it is composed of two UEB (basic business units):
Metallurgical UEB of Camagüey
The productive process of this installation begins with the arrival of the wire rod, main raw material from which all the products are derived. It is made of low and medium carbon steel with SAE 1006, 1008, 1010 and 1020 quality of origin. It is received in diameters of 5.50 mm, 6.00 mm and 6.50 mm.
The UEB has 4 production processes: Drawing, Galvanizing, Wiredrawing and Electrodes.
WIRE DRAWING WORKSHOP
1. The drawing process has 2 main areas: Stripping and Wire Drawing. The mechanical stripping is where the process begins, to eliminate the superficial oxides deposited in the wire rod, and ends with an exit inspection where it is identified and distributed to the different drawing machines where it will be processed.
In the drawing area, the steel is cold deformed by passing the wire rod through one or more dies or rows with the aim of reducing its diameter and lengthening its cross section. During this operation there is no machine production and variations of the mechanical properties of the drawn material occur with regard to its mechanical resistance, elongation and necking, where the chemical composition does not undergo any variation.
In the drawing process, electrode input wires, galvanized wires, wire for nails, wire mesh for wagons and grooved wires are produced.
GALVANIZING WORKSHOP
2. The galvanizing process involves immersing steel wires in a molten zinc bath to coat the surface of the wire with a layer protecting it from oxidizing environmental agents such as humidity and salinity.
To achieve this protective zinc layer, the wire goes through various technological operations such as wire annealing, stripping with hydrochloric acid, rinsing, immersion in flux solution, immersion in a zinc bath, cooling and collection for inspection. A galvanized wire is obtained which is then used to manufacture clamps, pig netting and wire for chain link mesh.
WIRE BRAIDING WORKSHOP
3. The braiding process is totally mechanical, and the wires from the galvanizing process are braided and barbed at certain distances, so they can be used efficiently in the division of livestock and crop lands. In the wire workshop, galvanized staples are produced which are used to fix the barbed wires to the posts of the cattle fences.
ELECTRODE WORKSHOP
4. In the electrode workshop, several technological operations are combined: cutting of the input wires coming from the wire drawing process for the manufacture of electrodes; preparation of the mass to be used as part of the coating; dry mixing, an operation where the mass is subjected to a homogenizing process and then passed to the technological operation called wet mixing, where potassium or sodium silicate is added to achieve the required consistency of the mass to be pressed. After the wet mixing, the optimized mass is introduced in a briquette press to obtain cylindrical blocks roughly 15 cm long and with a diameter equal to the inner diameter of the cylinder of the coating press. Three of these cylinders are inserted in the press at a time and are subjected to the action of a hydraulic cylinder which compresses them and sends them as a fluid mass to a nozzle into which the cut wire also enters through a rod-feeding machine. The centre of the nozzle is filled by the diameter of the cut wire, and around this diameter the mass is adhered in such a way that at the exit of the nozzle a wire rod of 350 or 450 mm in length is covered with mass. This coated rod is passed through several cleaning elements installed in the same extrusion press where what will be the ignition tip and the clamping tip are cleaned.
The coated rods, now with their two clean ends, are placed after classification on grids where they remain uncovered for at least one hour; after this, they are placed in a drying oven where 99% of the humidity is removed, leaving less than 1%, which is the maximum value required by the standard.
The freshly-steamed electrodes are weighed and packed in 5kg cardboard boxes placed individually inside a polyethylene bag and then the bag is heat-sealed, protecting the contents from moisture. Four of these boxes are then placed in 20 kg cardboard boxes, which are sealed, labelled and palletized. At the end, each pallet contains 50 boxes of 20 kg in turn containing 4 small boxes of 5 kg making a total net weight of 1 000 kg (1 t). To ensure maximum protection of the product, the pallet or wooden pallet with its contents is shrinkwrapped and labelled with the UEB data and a leaflet is placed on it with recommendations for the customer on the transport, storage and use of the electrode.
The process ends with the commercialization of the electrodes type E 6013 (rutile) in the diameters 3.20 mm and 4.00 mm. They are suitable for welding in all positions on elements or joints that do not require special requirements in terms of the characteristics of the filler metal and its use. They are generally used in ordinary welding.
MINAS
The UEB Derivados del Alambre located in Minas belonging to the company was established in 1989.
Its social objective is framed in the production of electro welded wire mesh, galvanized wire mesh, rectangular knotted wire mesh, known as pig mesh, plastic-coated wire mesh and nails. A variety of different types of steel wires are used, fulfilling our commitment to deliver productions for industry, agriculture, construction, tourism, health, sugarcane harvesting, and the housing sector, among others.
NAILS WORKSHOP
1. The UEB’s production process consists of a nail workshop where different types of nails are manufactured from 1x16 to 6x5, using wire diameters from 1.60 to 5.50 mm.
Once the raw material is received, a sample collection is made and mechanical tests are performed; the wire is placed in the machines and the nail is manufactured according to the customer’s request; the suitable approved product is finished and cleaned in the drums, where the burrs from the cutting are removed by polishing; then the packaging is made in 20 kg cardboard boxes that have been lithographed. The boxes are closed with a seal or clips, labelled and placed on pallets.
MESH WORKSHOP
2. Contains production of chain link mesh with galvanized wire, chain link mesh with plasticized wire (known as peerless) and the rectangular knotted mesh or pig mesh.
When the raw material is received, the wire is placed in the machines according to the type of mesh to be elaborated, and taking into account the diameter, width and length of the mesh, the rolls are produced.
ELECTRO-WELDED MESH WORKSHOP
3. In the electro-welded mesh workshop, panels or rolls of mesh are manufactured from drawn wires, with diameters ranging from 4 to 7 mm.
The production process starts by using approximately 2 tons of low carbon steel wire rod coils as raw material, going through the mechanical stripping process, through which the effects of oxidation and corrosion of the wire rod surface are eliminated, obtaining the required surface cleanliness. Then it goes to the rolling process, a process in which the wire rod is physically deformed through cold stretching through the different rollers. Then it is cut, a process by which the wire is passed through cold-marking rollers, obtaining a corrugated surface.
Next, the drawn wire is deposited in coils; one part goes to the cutting straightening machines, where the longitudinal bars are made, and the other part goes to the welding machine feeders, where they are extended as transversal wires, and then welded with the bars in a perpendicular way according to the diameter of the wire, width and length, creating electro-welded mesh as the final product.
Since February of that year, 1989, the Business Union of Wires and Electrodes in that coastal town has made a series of productions, which in only 2019 allowed it to supply over 1,360 tons of important products.
Located to the north, Nuevitas is one of the main industrial cities in the country. Its metallurgical plant is unique in its type on the Caribbean island, and has four production workshops: Stripping and Drawing, Galvanizing, Barbed Wire and Welding Electrodes.
The main target of the productions is to fulfill the development of the objectives of the programs prioritized by our nation, programs that are a main part of the sustenance of the country as far as the nutrition, construction of houses, production of exportable items and others, all for the benefit of the population and the development of our economy, Ubaldo Acosta Cepero, General Director of Derivados del Acero in Camagüey, told this magazine.
The organization boasts of a quest for excellence, giving confidence and satisfaction to customers, fulfilling commitments to them in the delivery of productions for different sectors, for which a Quality Management System is applied based on ISO 9001:2015, which has enabled it to expand even outside the borders.
- In recent times, among DA’s plans in Camagüey, what stands out is the delivery of over one thousand tons per year on average of products to clients from the Ministries of Agriculture, Construction, Domestic Trade, Public Health, ETECSA, DIP MARIEL (Mariel Development Zone), ALMEST, the business groups Azcuba and Tabacuba.
For Odalys Gómez de Alma, the company’s main Communication and Marketing specialist, Derivados del Acero has become the home to which she has dedicated 26 uninterrupted years. It has been a great school, because after countless experiences, it has a permanent place in the heart of this lady from Camagüey. She expressed to this publication, with sense of belonging and a lot of pride, that in her company they work to increase the satisfaction of the clients with their products in the national market and to increase their presence in the international market in America, demonstrating the commitment of the upper management to certify and to continually improve the products, and, despite the world-wide epidemiological situation of COVID-19, they have not stopped producing.
From February to now," Odalys stressed, &our organization has fulfilled its monthly production plan, with alternative productions, despite the impossibility of importing the fundamental raw materials for our industry. All was possible thanks to the excellent management skills of our manager, Acosta Cepero, and the strategies we have outlined to continue offering high quality products."
As far as the commercialization of the products is concerned, she referred to the success achieved by online sales, making it possible for them to diversify their client portfolio, as online sales allow products to be purchased by state companies or by private individuals.
Calle Avellaneda, No. 411, e/ San José y Francisquito, Camagüey.
+53 5213 6600/ +53 5285 0955
odalys@dacero.cu